The First Lightningbender
by Little Zhuge Liang
Summary: After Aang takes away Azula's firebending a storm is born within her. Taught to become a lightningbender not merely a firebender with lightning Azula sets on her path to become the Lightning Shogun. *Canceled see inside for details about my new webcomic.*
1. Short Circuit

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 01: Short-Circuit

"_War does not determine who is right. Only who is left." – Bertrand Russell

* * *

_

Water.

Earth.

Fire.

And Air.

The war has ended at last, the Avatar is victorious. The Fire Nation has at last been defeated; Prince Zuko has become the Fire Lord.

But the world has been torn asunder. There are no more airbenders save one. There are no more Sky Bison save one. And when they die, so will their legacy.

The nation of autumn is eradicated. The dominion of the sky is no more. The cycle is broken.

But there is one who can change this; one whose destiny will shake the very fabric of the world, one with the power to heal or destroy it. Iroh believed that it was Zuko's destiny, the destiny of the descendant of Roku and Sozin to restore balance to the world and redeem the Fire Nation…

He was wrong.

The former prince is only one half of the coin, for Zuko isn't the only descendant of the Avatar past. His role is only to bind the stitching of peace the new Avatar has sown. It is not his destiny to restore balance to the world, only to restore peace to its survivors.

War doesn't determine who is right. Only who is left.

I am Ty Lee and this is the tale of my friend Lightning Shogun Azula; the Mistress of the true Element of the Sky.

Lightning.

* * *

The comet had passed and night had descended onto the Royal Palace of the Fire Nation. The harsh red gave way to soft blue as Princess Azula finally stopped her fit of thrashing and spitting blue fire, too weary to do anything while two warriors looked on with pity. There was no one left in the palace to help them; they simply stood there and watched her slump over from exhaustion and pant heavily. They didn't know what to do with her.

She was a mess. Her hair was dirty and matted, little more than a tangle of black threads, her eyes blood shot and rimmed with black stains from sleep deprivation. Her skin was pale and clammy and from the gurgle of her stomach the pair wondered when she last ate. No one knew but the princess hadn't eaten anything in days too afraid that it might all be poisoned.

"What do we do with her?" Katara asked.

"I don't know. I knew she was slipping but this is…" Zuko trailed off.

Although he would tell himself that the man he was probably wouldn't care, Zuko was never really too bright and failed to realize that he had never been anything but soft hearted, no matter what he thought of himself now. After all, the reason he was banished in the first place was for being too kind. In the end he decided the best thing to do was tie Azula up, gag her and restrain her somewhere more comfortable, which ended up being her bed. They tied her spread eagle, each limb tied to a bedpost. Unfortunately the only things they could find that could stop her powerful blue flames were the strongest metal chains and a metal mouthpiece built strictly for firebenders. He wanted something softer but it was the best they could manage.

To their surprise, according to the few Fire Sages who had remained to conduct her coronation, Azula had apparently banished everyone in a manic episode of paranoia. Li and Lo, who had remained in hiding in the palace after being unable to decide which of the two had been banished were the only people the two members of Team Avatar were able to talk to about the princess, and they told them everything.

The two teenagers couldn't help but listen intently as the old crones spoke of the princess's slow deterioration as she began her descent into madness. Of how her diamond hard confidence and self-certainty had begun to slip after Zuko had left, how her mental armor began to crack and fracture after Mai and Ty Lee had betrayed her.

"The worst came when your father declared Azula Fire Lord and left her here to watch over the homeland," Lo began.

"It was abandonment. Ozai had no further use for his daughter, no desire to share power with her and we suspect that after he found that she lied about you killing the Avatar that he lost his trust in her and so discarded her as quickly as he discarded you it seemed," Li added.

"She couldn't take it. We believe she knew that he had abandoned her. We believe he had abandoned her. And so he left her behind, triggering her descent into madness," they both said at once.

"After that she began fearing everyone wanted to kill her. She began banishing everyone, the Dai Li, the Imperial Firebenders, even the servants and Li and I," Lo went on.

"But we stayed and watched from the shadows as she began talking to herself. Or at least we thought she was talking to herself," Li added.

"Who was she talking to?" Zuko asked but he already had his suspicions.

"Your mother," they both answered.

That he was not expecting. He had expected that she had begun talking to a hallucination of their father, telling her that she was a failure and that she wasn't special, or perhaps herself. She always seemed so narcissistic to him but evidently she not as self-centered as he had once thought.

"Mother?!"

"Yes, Azula was ranting and raving about how she believed your mother thought she was a monster and that she didn't love her. That her mother loved only you, Prince Zuko."

"It hurt her greatly. She cried a lot and destroyed much of the palace."

"It was very frightening!" they both shuddered visibly at the memories.

Cried? When did Azula cry? He had always thought that she didn't care about their mother but then he thought back to the times so long ago. To those summers on Ember Island, when they were happy; when they played together joyfully, when things were brighter. When things were simpler; before everything went wrong.

He had thought that only he cared when his mother left. His father seemed distant that time when he found him by the pond before he became the ruthless Fire Lord everyone knew and seemingly forgot about his wife. And Azula. She had always teased and bullied him as though she resented him for something. She had always been conniving and antagonized their mother for no apparent reason.

Could it have been envy? Loneliness?

But then there was that time last summer on Ember Island when Azula had said something he wasn't expecting.

"I don't have any sob stories like you. I could complain that mum loved Zuko more than me but I didn't really care," the princess joked.

"My own mother, thought I was a monster…" she trailed off almost sorrowfully as she stared into the fading embers of their campfire.

It seemed strange to her friends who looked on to see the normally placid and cruelly collected princess suddenly seem so vulnerable. Ty Lee both feared and liked the princess and looked on with genuine concern while Zuko and Mai looked puzzled and wondered if they should show sympathy or apprehension. They didn't know if Azula was playing them or if she was being genuine and honest, which tended to happen more often then they cared to admit.

"She was right of course but it still hurt," Azula then threw in to break the solemn mood.

Once Azula was restrained, Katara and Zuko couldn't help but thank the heavens at how lucky they were. Their last attempt at invading the Fire Nation Capital had ended in bitter failure after a harrowing battle. Last time they brought a whole army with them, but this time they went alone, what were they thinking?! As the pair reflected on their actions the pair realized how stupid they were, and were grateful that Azula had lost it victory before chastising themselves for thinking such horrendous thoughts.

The ironic part was that it was that they had only won because Azula had in a way let them win. She allowed herself to care when Mai and Ty Lee betrayed, when her father had left her. In a way, she lost because she wasn't evil enough.

As he looked at her frail, restrained figure, Zuko proclaimed, "I want to help her" .

"Are you sure?" Katara asked, but truth be told she wanted to help too.

Sure she had reasons to hate Azula especially since she had killed Aang. Then again she couldn't bring herself to kill the man who murdered her own mother and she had managed to revive Aang with water from the spirit oasis anyway which made that crime somewhat moot. And hadn't Zuko once been an enemy of hers as well? No, Katara thought to herself; the time for constant hatred was over. It was time to learn to forgive, or the war would never end.

"It isn't fair that only I was given chances to redeem myself a dozen times over," Zuko mused. "It's funny but growing up I always thought that Azula had everything: power, talent, our father's love. I thought that she was perfect and heartless. That she didn't care about anyone but herself."

The young prince found his thoughts shifting back to the time when he had returned to the Fire Nation Capital for the first time in three years. His sister had promised him his father's love and forgiveness if he helped her take Ba Sing Se and indeed she had delivered on her promise. His father forgave him, and even respected and seemingly loved him more than ever when Azula gave him credit for killing Aang.

She had told him later than night her supposed ulterior motive was to turn him into a shield against their father's wrath in case he discovered that the Avatar wasn't really dead. He had in turn, acted rather cruelly by sending an assassin after Aang to make sure Ozai's wrath wouldn't be incurred. But her strategy was uncharacteristically flimsy and what more, she had told him her plan, and later warned him to be careful about seeing uncle at that.

"Alright you got me. What do you want?" he asked that day on his date with Mai.

"Actually nothing," Azula replied as her expression melted from her scowl to an almost maternal expression of worry. "Believe it or not I'm looking out for you."

He had long wondered if she meant it. When it came right down it, it seemed as though she had. There was so much more she could have gained by ousting him for seeking counsel from Iroh that time yet she didn't. And her plan to bring him back into the fold quite frankly was far too flawed. All he had to do was tell Ozai the truth and it would ruin her reputation with him. He did tell Ozai and in fact according to Li and Lo it had ruined his father's opinion of Azula.

Could she have miscalculated or did she genuinely care?

He often repeated the mantra "Azula always lies!" despite the fact that he tended to forget it far too often like the time Azula tried to capture Iroh and him for the first time. But how often did she really lie and how often did he merely wish she was lying? She was like the boy who cried wolf-bat but only for her brother's sake not her own.

Ozai had told him that it was indeed their mother that murdered Azulon, confirming what it was Azula had tried to warn him about that time years ago, albeit in her own disturbing fashion.

"Dad's going to kill you," she sang.

"Maybe you can find a nice Earth Kingdom family to take you in."

Zuko couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if he had done just that. And why warn him? It would have served her better to just let him die. Would his mother still be in the palace today if he had? Would she still be safe instead of banished to who knows where to fend off who knows what? In her own psychotic manner Azula was looking out for them. Or at least that's what Zuko thought it looked like.

"But she's not heartless. Even though she tried, she never was perfect and she never had any more that I did…No, she had less than I did. At least I had mom, I had uncle. I even had you guys."

The young fire prince cast a glance at the sleeping and bound form of his sister.

"But she did care. I'm her brother Katara. I have to try and help her," Zuko finally announced.

* * *

The rest of the Gaang arrived the next day on board the last dirigible of the Phoenix Fleet to the warm greetings of Katara and Zuko. Despite their injuries there was a great look elation about even as Sokka limped on his good leg with the aid of his girlfriend Suki. Aang was with them as well, much to everyone's joy, but what struck the firebender and waterbender most was Toph, who disembarked the airship with Ozai gift-wrapped in sheets of metal with his head rolled to one side drooling.

"Wow! Aang what did you do to him?" Zuko asked awed by the end result of a full out battle with the Avatar.

"I took away his bending," the Avatar replied happily.

"How?!"

"Using an ancient form of bending a lion-turtle taught me. He taught me how to bend the life energy in other people so I used it to take away Ozai's bending."

"That's amazing," both Zuko and Katara breathed a little awe and a little in fear.

It would take some time before they would hear word from the Order of the White Lotus all the way at Ba Sing Se, especially without air transport, but at least it gave the kids time to rest and enjoy the Fire Nation palace all by themselves with no guards or servants about. That was until Zuko put forward his request to Aang.

"Azula is here," he informed his young friend privately.

"Here!? What happened to her?"

Ozai terrified the young Avatar but not as much as the woman who had once actually killed him and outsmarted him and his friends at every turn.

"Well…"

Zuko told him everything and Aang being the noble soul he was felt a great well of pity for the girl.

"What do you want me to do? I don't know anything about healing the mind. Katara hasn't even taught me how to heal the body with waterbending yet."

"I want you to take away her firebending."

"…Are you sure you said you took care of her?" Aang responded plainly actually having considered taking away her bending anyway if she resisted.

"Katara and I chained her to her bed but it won't last. Azula is too dangerous to be left with her bending. I want you to take it away. It's the only way we can help her."

Aang thought about it for a moment and decided that it did seem logical. So certain was he in his self-righteous belief that it was the right thing to do that no part of him even considered the psychological ramifications of stripping someone of their bending.

And so in the dead of night they crept into her room while everyone else rested from the hard battles and found Azula awake and thrashing fruitlessly against her bonds.

"It's over Azula. Aang defeated Ozai and stripped him of his bending," Zuko began to explain.

His sister stared at him defiantly, refusing to believe his story.

"We've decided that it's best that Aang do the same for you. That way you can start over like I did. It's for the best," her brother continued to reassure her, then finally nodded to Aang who gingerly approached her, fearful that she might still be able to attack him.

She had killed him once after all and try as he might to be impartial, a part of Aang was enjoying this little revenge.

Wide eyed fear creased the perfect features of the princess as she struggled against her metal bonds to no avail, only chaffing her wrists in the process. Aang set down his staff and went to remove her armor but since it could only be removed by lifting it off through her manacled arms Aang simply resorted to slicing it apart with his airbending to reveal her bare chest.

"What are you doing?!" Zuko gasped.

"It's easier if I make skin contact. I need to connect with her heart and mind chakras to do this," Aang apologetically explained.

Zuko nodded grimly and Aang then apologized to the princess for such an indecent act but continued all the same. He felt no remorse for what he did. How could he? He didn't know that as his body shone bright blue and hers bright red, that as his own spirit enveloped hers that he was in fact violating the sanctity of her very soul, corrupting it with his own essence as he rearranged her from the inside out.

It was rape, spiritual rape, and it left her broken, humiliated and destroyed. But most of all, it left her empty and spiritually infertile. The warmth was gone; her inner fire was snuffed out as he entered her.

Zuko would never admit it but there was a large part of him that enjoyed seeing his sister stripped of her bending. All his life he had lived in her shadow, the shadow cast by her prodigious abilities; the shadow of a "little" sister who their father adored because of her innumerable talents and grace. Now that talent was gone forever, now he was the proud firebending master of the royal family who had learned to redirect lightning, who had mastered the powerful Dance of the Dragons.

Of course he reasoned that she both deserved it and that she didn't need her firebending. That she could learn to live without it and still be happy. How unwittingly cruel he was.

After Aang took away her bending she struggled no more. She didn't speak or fight, she didn't do anything save remain still like a corpse as tears continued to flow down her cheeks. In the end, they decided that the best thing for her was to transfer her to a mental hospital on Ash Island off the coast of the capital island.

Zuko's coronation had gone off without a hitch and it was decided that solitary life imprisonment was to be Ozai's fate instead of outright execution. Zuko saw his actions as merciful. A more cynical mind like Azula's simply chalked it up to Zuko being petty: a case of him trying to be less like his ruthless father just to spite the former Fire Lord. She was partially right of course, but Zuko would never admit the hidden motivations of his actions.

After the new Fire Lord tried unsuccessfully to get the location of his banished mother from Ozai he decided he ought to visit his sister. To that end he found her in a well built cage deep underground within the mental hospital. Backed against brick and hard earth with a solid grate of bars within another larger room and another set of bars Azula was kept isolated but at least comfortable.

Her cage was far better than Ozai's; it was lavish and well constructed at Zuko's request. To him she didn't deserve the same fate as Ozai but still they kept her lightly chained with a single set of manacles that bound her wrists and ankles and held them together by a single chain leading up to her collar even in her crimson hospital robe. Even without her bending Azula had proven that she didn't need firebending to be utterly lethal. Her skills in weapons rivaled Mai and Sokka's and was nearly as good as Ty Lee at acrobatics. Who knew what else she was capable of?

The princess sat on the cold concrete floor with her back against her bed. Her hair was untied and hung loose, concealing her face as she simply stared at her feet with her knees drawn to her body. She felt cold. She always felt so cold.

"Hello Azula," Zuko began but his sister ignored him.

"I hope you like the furnishings. Sorry I couldn't get someone to do your hair. There weren't any servants brave enough who would agree to it so I didn't force any of them," the young Lord joked to the unresponsive princess.

"I want you to know I won't give up on you. Uncle never gave up on me no matter how much I screwed up and acted like a spoilt brat so I won't either. So please try at least. To get better."

Many moments of silence passed before finally Azula said something from behind a mask of messy hair.

"You know what I find ironic?" she asked in a voice raspy from hours of crying.

"What?"

"When I captured you, uncle Iroh, that earthbender, the water peasant, Katara and even Mai and Ty Lee, I was merciful. I didn't chain you up or break your arms yet you had me bound like some mad dog. And when I was down and out you got your master the Avatar to molest me. Cripple me, rape me! Thinking what? That it was the right thing to do, that you were helping me. I thought I was supposed to be the bad guy," her voice was steady despite the anger each sentence implied.

"I'm sorry about that but…you're too good. Too dangerous. I had no choice."

Behind her veil of hair Azula smirked. So it was fear then. Fear made him do what he did. How fitting. She chuckled a little.

"Sorry? Don't make me laugh. You know it's funny. Father had mother kill grandfather so he could become Fire Lord, a task she was more than happy to perform for your sake. It was dishonorable but at least he was honest about it."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I think you know. You and uncle talk about unwavering honor yet look at you: Fire Lord at the whim of a thirteen year old boy and the luck of a waterbending girl. Exactly like father you are Fire Lord by force and patricide by proxy. What exactly did you do pray-tell, save attack a fifteen year girl on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And let's not forget you won only because she was on the verge of a mental breakdown and even at that you failed."

Zuko stared at his sister in shock, he was sure he whispered softly enough to keep her from hearing that.

"Oh don't look surprised. I heard you whispering to that waterbending girl down the steps. You haven't changed Zuko. You've always been a failure. Becoming Fire Lord won't change that."

Zuko bit back a retort. He wouldn't fall for her tricks this time no matter how deeply her words could wound him.

"It's over Azula. For your sake, I hope you can change like I did. I'm Fire Lord now and the people will follow me."

To that Azula simply laughed.

"If you think they will follow you, then you are a fool. You aren't as different from father as you think Zuko. And besides you never changed Zuko, you've always been a goody-goody and a failure. You will always be a goody-goody and a failure," she said finally as he left Azula to her own devices.

* * *

A storm raged as spears of lightning stabbed the earth with thunder peels like great bells outside the hospital but she was so deep within its bowels that she could hear nothing.

Silence was her only companion, the people who watched her everyday and every hour did so through black glass windows that prevented her from seeing them. But she knew that they were staring at her, most in fear but some with lecherous glares. The nurses were all afraid of her, the nicer ones stayed clear of her while the less nice ones tried to take advantage of her from time to time. Oh how they tried with drugs in her food, poison darts and occasionally the more unintelligent ones resorted to brute strength.

But Azula was good, far too good. Few people whether men or women could appreciate the skill and strength in those lithe arms until they had a few broken bones and missing teeth to remind them. Even the sadistic warden deliberately took as many days off as he could to avoid her. A few times Azula had even talked people into states of clinical depression and many of those had committed suicide in the process. Taking away her bending obviously hadn't destroyed her other skills. Darts she easily caught and pretended to take, same with drugged food. In the end after only a couple of weeks someone would only run in with her food, slide it through, then run away again. She'd push the trays and utensils out when she was done and that was that.

Azula had no plans though, no goals. Not this time. She'd let irony and karma take care of things for her this time, she thought with a smile. Besides she was tired. Oh so very tired and scared. There was no one to watch her back this time, not even her father. Especially not her father.

There was no hope left. And without hope why bother doing anything. Except survive perhaps. Survive in agonizing loneliness.

She felt cold; it was a bone deep cold. No it was infinitely worse than that; it was like the very warmth of her soul was gone. She felt empty, so empty; it was so dark ever since her firebending had been taken away from her. Fire was life, her identity, her soul, her light and without it she may as well have been dead. Quite frankly this was a fate worse than death so how could the Avatar and his friends so willingly and happily condone it. Were they ignorant or just arrogant, she wondered.

"They are both," said a voice.

Azula who had been lost in thought on the floor beside her bed shot up to see who had said that. It was a strange voice, it was deep and resonating like it flowed through her body and echoed within her. But what was strange was that she didn't hear it so much as…think it.

"Right, of course I'm crazy remember," she joked to herself sourly at the thought of more hallucinations and tried to go back to sleep.

"You are not crazy. I am real."

Again she jerked up, but this time she saw it.

Standing outside her gilded cage was a creature unlike any she had ever seen or even heard of before. Unlike anyone had seen in centuries. It looked like a large tiger, like the ligers but only this one was huge nearly the size of the Avatar's sky bison. But its fur was pure white like clouds while its stripes were blood red and jagged. Large tuffs off black fur like storm clouds covered its shoulders while its tail which was jet black ended in a single great golden thunderbolt. Huge jagged fangs extended from its upper jaw, like those of a sabertooth moose-lion, while a pair of huge hawk-like white wings extended from an extra set of shoulders on its back.

It was simply put the most awe-inspiring creature Azula had ever seen, even greater than the statues of dragons and it locked its piercing yellow eyes with the princess's. Azula's heart rarely skipped a beat and this was one of those rare occasions, as she stared into those massive orbs that crackled with arcs of purple electricity.

"W-What…what are you!?" Azula gasped.

"I am a Tigerhawk, a creature of the element of Lightning. The first of the Lightningbenders," it answered.

"The…lightningbenders?" Azula couldn't help but laugh at that claim. "So you're a firebender then?"

"No, dragons cannot create lightning for lightning is a separate element."

"What?!"

"Think about it. Lightning is formed when clouds of water rub against each other in the sky by the force of the winds. How is that fire? It does not burn. But lightning exists everywhere, just rub amber and fur together and you get a spark. Lightning exists in our bodies, our muscles, nerves and brains. It is the energy of life and it flows like water and through metal. How is that fire? Fire is merely a fuel. Lightning is life itself. Yes it is hot, hotter than any fire known but that is no different than how earthbenders can move magma or waterbenders can make steam from water."

"Lightning is…a separate element," she stared at the creature in complete confusion as it made its claim.

"Yes, surely you noticed that your lightning hadn't been much greater during Sozin's comet than normal compared to your fire?"

"Yes…Yes I did," she had found that strange.

Her teachings of lightning had told her that lightning was a pure form of firebending but it was never called lightningbending. It was only ever referred to as the power of lightning and variations thereof but never bending. Come to think of it she thought the ability to shoot lightning in a straight line alone could hardly be called bending.

Azula cast a worried glance over the black glass windows concealing her watchers but the tigerhawk simply gave a low growl.

"Do not fear, they see nothing but a sleeping princess. I have bent their minds to such."

"You can do that?" gasped Azula.

"Yes. But enough questions answered. I wish to ask you some questions of my own."

"G-go ahead."

"Do you know why you had your breakdown?"

"Of…of course. Being a people person works both ways Tigerhawk."

"Oh then explain?"

"…I was scared."

"So it was fear."

"Everyone fears tiger. Even me, especially me. Everyone… has someone…needs someone. I needed someone. But then everyone left me and I was alone. Not even father would let me come with him. I was so scared I didn't know what to do anymore. "

"And it broke you."

Azula cackled. She cackled loudly.

"Yes it broke me. When Katara lured me into a little trap of hers chained me to that grate I couldn't take it, all the fear and frustration broke down my last barriers and I snapped. But that's fine, big deal it happened time to a move on. But I don't care, at least I'm honest about what I am, what I feel, what I want."

"And what do you want?"

"To be mighty. It's as simple as that."

"Then, Azula, I can offer you something no one else has the right to," explained the tigerhawk.

"And what is that? My bending is gone forever, my art, my warmth, my soul. All gone. I'm empty. I'm nothing."

"That is not true and you know it."

"What do you mean?" Azula asked suddenly curious.

"Do you know how bending works and where it originated from?"

"You mean energybending," she almost spat, dredging up long learnt memories of things long past she studied in her spare time. "That horrific power he used to rape me and amputate away everything that was mine," she bite her lip until it bled to stifle her tears.

"Yes, what do you know of it?"

"Only what I could find. That before the nations existed, before the Avatar and even the four bending arts existed men and women bent the energy in themselves before the art was lost. Rather cryptic but I've always assumed that meant our chi. The life force in us we use to bend."

"Oh. Is that all you assumed?"

"You have something to say? Spit it out! And stop wasting my time."

"The art of energybending was always about bending one's personal chi but within and without. But you see chi is the energy of life. If it were gone you would be dead and your body useless."

"What are you saying? That he didn't destroy my ability to bend but merely crippled me somehow?"

"Correct, think of it like cutting the branches from a tree and burning the stumps to prevent them from growing back. The tree is still there and you have other branches."

"Are you saying he didn't destroy my ability to bend!?"

"Correct. You have lost the ability to create fire but there is another element within you, within the descendants of Sozin gifted to them for avenging a long forgotten race for a long forgotten genocide. Think of it as an extra set of branches the Avatar missed."

"Another element?...Lightning!" Azula gasped in realization.

"Correct, didn't you think it was odd that there are no other benders who wield lightning outside of your family?"

"Well I…yes I did."

"That is because lightning is not fire, it is not made of fire nor does it act like fire. It is something else an energy called electricity. Something greater and more deadly and infinitely more useful than fire."

"And you are a Tigerhawk. The first of the lightningbenders just like the dragons, sky bison and badgermoles."

With renewed ambition Azula rose to her feet more certain and confident than she had been in ages.

"Then teach me what you know," she demanded sternly.

The tigerhawk simply smiled and with a single claw shattered the bars blocking her and the chains binding her.

"Spoken like a true ruler. Then mistress I will teach you the lost art. The true element of the season of autumn and of the domain of the sky. I will teach you Lightningbending!"

* * *

Author's Note: This is the edited version beta read by pancakechef. Thanks for the beta.

I'll keep this short, more story notes are on my profile to save space and answer questions on the fly. Please R&R. Seriously the value of my life is measured in number of reviews I can garner. *pouts*

Special thanks goes to o0Kamikaze0o for writing Hopeless the source of inspiration for this fic. The first chapter is based heavily on that brilliant oneshot.

Ok I promised Tyzula to name a few, however I've set up a poll to decide between jetzula or tyzula. Please check my profile for that thanks.

Yes Tigerhawk, any beast war fans will get the reference/joke.


	2. Reconnection

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

Foreword: Thank you to all the people who reviewed, it's really nice to get so many reviews so fast! To answer a few quick questions I should have put this part in chapter 1 then there would have been less confusion but I felt it was too long so I split it. Basically this chapter explains most of what was said in chapter 1, hopefully. Also Ty Lokka and Azulaang sound interesting but if it's Ty Lokka that it has to compete with Sukka and Azulaang would be just disturbing. Maybe I can make Azula stalk Aang :P

* * *

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 02: Reconnection.

_"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."—Abraham Lincoln

* * *

_

Azula assumed the Tigerhawk was female, it did sound somewhat female. Then again it was hard to tell, it certainly never referred to itself as female. You couldn't really refer to your gender in passing. Its voice boomed and echoed within her like thunderclaps but made no real sound. The Tigerhawk was talking directly into the princess's mind. Something which took getting used to.

"So what do I call you?" asked the young raven haired girl.

"I have many names but you may call me Inazuma."

"Very well. What must I do now?" she demanded.

"First let us start by creating a spark of electricity," taught the Storm Tiger.

"And how do I do that?"

"You have not lost your ability to bend. The Avatar could not rid you of that, only your firebending has been removed. To begin let me start with this: lightning requires peace of mind only as an extension of peace in the flow of chi - not as a matter of trying to separate the negative energies from the positive. Lightning flows through the body like water through a creek. Like water, electricity seeks to flow a matter of its nature and move like air that seeks to fill a vacuum. Like water flowing down a river erosion takes place, wearing away the sides of it. Over time valleys are formed, mountains crumble and the river is no more. Lightning is the same only it happens instantaneously making it extremely dangerous. If there is any resistance the lightning jumps back into you, burning you or even killing you as it flows through your body."

Well that explained a lot. Azula had seen Zuko trying to shoot lightning after she had taken him home and even offered to try and teach him. He refused of course. But no matter how hard he tried every attempt literally blew up in his face. But even when she was in a frenzy on the day of the Comet she could still create lightning with ease, though it was a lot weaker and less focused than it should have been. Not to mention tiring.

"Lightning exists within the body, in your muscles, nerves and brain. It animates your organs, makes your heart beat. Firebending comes from the breath the mixing of air and chi to create flame but lightningbending comes from the muscles and nerves. You merely need the will to create a circuit. In the firebending style you gather static electricity from the air around you by sweeping your fingers through it like clouds rubbing against each other. Like a lightning rod you draw the power into yourself forming a circuit within your arms and shoulders, putting your hands together you join the circuit to unleash it and it rushes forward to meet the first solid resistance it can."

The Tigerhawk seemed to have a tendency for excessive hyperbole and metaphor not to mention melodrama. One thing that stuck in Azula's mind were all the riddles and hints she dropped none too subtly but being a pragmatist Azula pushed her queries aside and continued to listen intently.

To some extent listening to Inazuma lecture kind of reminded her of the lectures her father, Li and Lo had given her and for a brief moment the princess suddenly felt a little sad. She missed them.

"But the body already is a living ever changing circuit, it creates lightning like a generator and stores it like a battery. Your nerves, your muscles are all conductive wires which automatically form these positive and negative charges every time you move, breathe or even think! Even the beating of your heart creates electricity. With lightningbending I will teach you to harness the power within yourself and without. Like firebenders draw the heat from their body to make fire you can draw the lightning in your flesh and send it forth as well as command electricity all around you by building your own external circuits of chi. Now with what I have told you generate a spark and make it dance between your fingers. Remember you are the master, the element your tool. But respect and treat it with care and caution."

Obeying Inazuma's commands Azula breathed in deeply, calming her mind and stilling her body and heart. She tried not to fall on the habits of firebenders realizing quickly that this was a new kind of bending art - one that would undoubtedly be markedly different from firebending. With a steady pace she reached deep within herself feeling the lightning in her flesh and willing it to flow down circuits she chose.

"Electricity is a matter of yin and yang. It flows when positive and negative energies or charges are present, empty and full like breathing and while some believe that a bender is only a humble guide this is in fact foolish humility. Respect it but do not fear it. Rivers can be damned, swamps drained, canals built. Lightning can be bent into a circuit, directed and controlled to empower and destroy at your whim. Now make that circuit!"

At its command Azula began focusing her chi to form lines and from that energy she began turning it into electricity that flowed down and around her body. The feeling was amazing as nerves were fired and receptors stimulated. The feeling of exhilaration was beyond the warmth of firebending. The lightning was life itself empowering every cell in her body, tingling every sensation pleasurably, renewing all vigor and drive.

She almost lost herself in the sensation until she quickly caught herself and focused.

"Focus, Azula. You must command the lightning. Your circuit must be insulated and conductive like a strong canal forcing it to flow at your beck and call. Focus!"

And then it happened. An arc of electricity danced across her fingers jumping from one tip to the other and even from hand to hand. It was like a web of strings, threads of azure lightning that bounced and danced at her fingertips at her whim. For her amusement.

It was an epiphany, a revelation. Azula had been reborn.

"Good, now let us begin your training."

* * *

Only weeks passed but it only took weeks for Azula to master so many forms, so many skills and techniques the Tigerhawk had to offer. The beast was impressed by her talent, the princess needed only a single demonstration to comprehend and a single attempt to copy and memorize the forms the Tigerhawk demonstrated to her.

Of course the Tigerhawk wasn't really 'teaching' her lightningbending, it was a tigerhawk after all. Like the ancient benders from the animals, like Toph from badgermoles Azula was creating her own art by following the movements and ways of the creature. And learning ridiculously fast as well.

Azula was certain she was actually getting smarter, stronger, faster and more energetic. She was all of this already but somehow she was becoming more so. New ideas seem to pop in her head faster, solutions came quicker, she rarely got tired these days and barely needed any sleep. And the world seemed to pass by so slowly. Was it always this slow she wondered?

"Lightning is the energy of life; it is the substance of thought. Lightningbenders have a natural predisposition towards intelligence and athleticism in the same way earthbenders are strong and resolute, airbenders swift and evasive etc."

Azula smirked at the comment feeling her ego inflate with her power.

"Lightningbending is also affected by your confidence and strength of personality. That being an aspect of lightning as well," added Inazuma matter-of-factly.

It was a monsoon at that time on this part of the world and many lightning storms raged high in the sky, filling the darkness with staccatos of blinding white light. Each time Azula emerged into the open, the power of the sky flowed into her. And it was especially potent during a storm and far greater than the feeling of invigoration she felt under a noon sun as a firebender.

"The storm is to lightningbenders as the noon sun is to firebenders, the full moon is to waterbenders. The sky will give you power, clouds more so, rain even more and lightning storms the greatest of all. As lightning stabs from the sky to enrich the earth the storm will feed you power, but remember should you need to defend against lightning simply stay grounded and redirect its flow into the earth which will absorb it for you." lectured Inazuma whose thunderous psychic voice seem to boom even over the peels of thunder around them.

Azula was drenched and cold but she didn't care. The power she felt under a storm was pure ecstasy and she would not let even a freezing downpour stop her from training under the violent skies.

"Under the storm you will even have the power to counter the chi flows within others and control their thoughts and perceptions. You are adept at that already and this art will be child's play for you. The art of mindbending."

True to its word Inazuma had mindbent every doctor, patient, nurse and guard in the facility bending them all to the princess's will. In a way she had a palace of her own once more and it allowed her to train out in the open.

"Positive and negative charges, flowing, current, grounding. Why does lightningbending sound like every other bending art?" Azula asked.

"All the elements are connected, firebending and airbending are very similar, as are waterbending and airbending, earthbending and firebending and so on. All elements exist in a cycle that compliment each other and share aspects. Lightning is no different. It was the very first to form when mankind stopped simply bending the energy in themselves and started bending the elements outside. Lightningbending is the first true elemental bending art, the purest and oldest. All others learned from its divine wisdom first. And now you will be the first master seen in an epoch."

"Can father do this?" she asked suddenly concerned for her father.

"No, nor can Iroh or your brother."

"Why? Why only me? The Avatar took away father's firebending and couldn't he also do the same with Iroh?"

"No, because your spirit is unbendable. The Avatar does not have the power to take away the bending of the first true lightningbender seen in an age. He does not have the right and your will far surpasses his. He merely…trimmed away the dead branches that were your firebending limbs to let your lightningbending branches grow strong and true. Unwittingly of course."

Azula could always tell when a human was lying to her. Inazuma hardly fell in that category. But instincts were telling her that there was something the Tigerhawk was keeping from the princess, something important as to why Inazuma only picked her and her alone. Pressing the issue didn't seem wise though, not now anyway.

"I won't lie to you Azula. You're firebending no matter how powerful held you back. Now that you have embraced your true calling you will get stronger. Far stronger than your father, far stronger than any bender alive or dead. It is your destiny to revive an old nation destroyed and becomes its monarch."

"Monarch to a new nation. Hmm," she grinned from ear to ear. "I just love the sound of that."

Azula trained out in the open almost twenty four seven taking breaks only to eat and occasionally sleep. The only times she couldn't do any of these were when Zuko came to visit. Each time he did he continued to talk to her like the doctors once did thinking they could talk her into being good. The doctors called it therapy though the princess had more colorful words for it. Somehow Azula imagined that if she hadn't learned lightningbending and found a new motivation to keep her going she would probably have just turned good out of insanity from all the talking.

She had many more questions to ask the Tigerhawk, like what this talk was about a destroyed old nation, forgotten genocide and what not. It hadn't seemed particularly prudent, but Azula was more interested in just learning lightningbending. Frustratingly, the Tigerhawk would cryptically reply to her occasional probes with:

"I will show you in time." Or "It is better seen than told."

Obviously her help was not altogether altruistic but that was fine, Azula was used to it.

In the end she just went with the flow and decided to wait for Inazuma to tell her in her own good time. Besides she was having a marvelous time practicing her lightningbending, she especially enjoyed poking around peoples' brains with her mindbending. The only time her mood was soured was when Zuko came round to which she was forced to return to her newly repaired prison cell and pretend to be imprisoned.

She longed to wrap her slender white fingers around her brother's neck and send a million volts of electricity through him. But there would be time for vengeance another day, she would allow him to live while he could still be useful to her. Not to mention Azula found that such a death was too good for her treacherous brother. No, she needed to find a more suitable end for him.

Each time he came (which tended to be frequent) he went to tell her about her past deeds and how that despite her ruthlessness and cunning she had always clearly held back and tried to do things without causing loss of life. Zuko tried to play it up as a sense of morality when in actual fact it was just exceptional efficiency. Capturing was more useful than killing.

"Remember at the Boiling Rock. I know you wanted to just cut the line and let us fall into the boiling lake but you didn't. Instead you jetted across the cable to fight us head on. Ty Lee told me that it was because you wanted to capture us alive. It made me happy to know that you really do care and it's not just deep down," he would say and Azula would just scoff at him.

He also tended to rabble on and on about how their father was at fault for warping her, curiously he seemed to avoid mentioning any of their mother's failings but Azula was in no way surprised.

"What do you want from me anyway? You have everything you ever wanted Zuzu."

"I want you be normal. And happy. That's it."

Azula just gaped at him like he grown an extra head complete with a scar and everything. Then she burst into such hysterical laughter than it hurt her sides.

"What's so funny Azula!?" Zuko demanded crossly.

"Spare me please," she chuckled. "Be honest Zuko and tell me the truth."

"What truth?" now Zuko was puzzled.

"You don't know? Not surprising I suppose."

"Then tell me, what do you know that I don't?"

"All these attempts to try and get me to change. All this effort you put in. To make me repent. It isn't for me Zuzu. It's for yourself."

"F-for…myself?"

"Yes, you obviously don't realize it so I'll tell you. You were born, by your definition, a good person but you changed, you turned rotten for the sake of pleasing father. Even though you got better and changed back it doesn't change the fact that you could become evil all over again since you did it once. And you're afraid of that. You see Zuzu, you aren't trying to change me for selfless reasons. You're trying to change me because you believe that if you can change someone as evil and selfish and cruel as me, in your mind it not only absolves you of your sins but also ensures absolutely that you can never ever go bad again. But I know and you know, that you can always go bad Zuzu. Nothing save death will ever be able to remove that sword hanging over your head."

This time there was no retort, no counter argument. He simply had neither. Fire Lord Zuko simply left and would later get chastised by his girlfriend for being stupid enough to listen to Azula, the greatest and most charismatic psychologist known.

Eventually the day came when Azula decided enough was enough. It was time to move up in the world.

"Do you think I've trained enough?" Azula wondered out loud.

"Yes, I think it's time we left this dreary prison palace of yours and seek your destiny."

"Good. I was beginning to grow impatient."

Taking a well balanced Horse stance Azula swiftly waved her arms left and right before bringing them to swift halts. In response to her manipulation of magnetic fields the iron bars bent aside at her gestures groaning loudly in protest to her harsh act of bending.

The next thing she did was find a nurse who was roughly her size and build and who had just about as much hair and the same color of pale skin. The girl was obedient and responsive thanks to Inazuma but Azula had greater plans for this girl than just menial servitude. The first thing she did was dress her up in the same kind of patient robes she wore then styled her hair so that from most angles you couldn't tell the two girls apart.

The next thing she did was far more sinister. Azula put her fingers against the side of the nurse's head probing her scalp with her fingers. With careful precision and the power of the storm raging above backing her she began the careful surgical art of mindbending.

"Remember mindbending is not a simple ability. You do not think what you want and cause it to happen. To read the mind of another is like reading any book, you must pour through it to find the details you wish often without the benefit of a contents page or index. Dull minds tend to be like this. In mindbending you can edit these parts as surely as you might edit a scroll written in charcoal for the mind is not set in ink, and thus it changes and warps with time and experience. You must erase the memories and write anew in the pages of the brain," Inazuma continued to instruct as Azula plied her craft with prodigious ease.

With the bending movement of each finger Azula careful stimulated and trigger electric pulses in choice ganglions and neurons within the nurse's brain. With her altered eyes she could see them all pulsing and racing, the firing circuits of her mind like words and illustrations to the lightningbender. And each she carefully edited.

Changing her entire personality would take far too long. Azula was simply altering her stimuli response patterns to create a body double for herself - a kind of small split personality. She would have none of the true wit of the cunning princess but enough to keep Fire Lord Zuko occupied for a while with a few witty remarks and scathing comments and if necessary some violent retorts followed by long periods of silence.

It took hours of work but finally Azula was finished and put the nurse inside her former cell before bending the bars back. Then she moved on to the next part of her plan. Supplies and gear had already been prepared for her by the other 'puppets' and Inazuma had offered to become her mount and beast of burden. A mote of irony struck Azula as she began donning her new outfit - courtesy of Inazuma and some personal tailors she 'acquired'. Just a year ago Azula was chasing the last survivor of a dead civilization riding a once thought extinct animal. And now she was the heir apparent of a dead civilization riding an animal no one even knew existed. It made her wonder if she should expect Fire Nation soldiers to be chasing her soon. With Zuko, you never knew.

Azula's new apparel was apparently modelled after the clothes worn by the ancient lightningbenders. It was basically a jet black Gi with gold rims and a storm grey hakama skirt tied by a black sash to hold it together. Underneath her kimono-style shirt she wore a grey long sleeve top that covered her neck and extended down her arms. She wore white toe socks or tabi allowing her to strap on a pair of strong black leather sandals.

Most importantly she had lipstick on once more. Putting it on for the first time in weeks was like a smoker smoking for the first time in weeks. It was the most satisfying feeling she felt in a very long time.

"It's pretty light," Azula complimented on her new outfit as she bounced on her toes.

"You should really thank your tailors, they were the ones who did the work," replied Inazuma.

"Good point. Thank you very much," she thanked the catatonic servants standing at attention beside her Tigerhawk in a sickly sweet tone and bowed with a sinister smirk.

The characters 雷神 were scrolled down the left side of her top in gold thread beneath a symbol resembling a golden S-shaped lightning bolt emblazoned over a golden ring. Azula had done up her hair in a topknot once more holding it in place with a new hairpiece that bore a similar symbol wrought in gold. Sadly her bangs hadn't fully grown back yet and her hair was still asymmetrical even if it was at least clean and tidy.

"The thunderbolt was the crest of the Lightning people. It's fitting that you wear it."

"I see. Well I suppose it's time we leave eh?"

"Agreed. Get on." the Tigerhawk jerked it's head towards her saddle and immediately Azula jumped onto it securing herself comfortably into the harness.

"One question?" Azula wondered out loud.

"Yes?"

"Are you male or female?"

The Tigerhawk simply smiled and yelled: "Female!" before _she_ jumped into the air flapping her wings furiously to gain altitude as she soared through the black clouds.

* * *

The Storm Tiger continued to fly through the sky at a pace that even exceeded the Avatar's Sky Bison, much to Azula's surprise and delight. Ever since becoming a lightningbender Azula could no longer instinctively tell where the sun was like firebenders, instead she could feel the pull of what Inazuma told her was the Earth's magnetic field guiding her North like a compass. From that she could tell that Inazuma was travelling South-South-East to only spirits knew where.

She also found that if she focused just a little she could tell what the weather would be like and today promised to be fine and brisk. Which as a firebender was delightful but to a lightningbender it made her feel lethargic. It was ironic because Azula recalled the reverse when clouds obscured sunlight and made her feel sleepy not the other way around.

"Not to look a gift-tigerhawk in the mouth but why are you helping me Inazuma?" Azula asked as she rested her arms and head against Inazuma's saddle.

"I will show you in time. But suffice it to say I want to see the return of the Tigerhawks to their original numbers and the return of the human lightningbenders and their nation of storms."

"So there is an ulterior motive."

"As you would say there's always an ulterior motive. Even the most selfless of actions still serve to provide one with some pleasure. However demented."

"Hah. That is true. Where _are_ the other Tigerhawks?"

"Scattered, in mountain tops and forests all over the world. Tigers are solitary creatures by nature and the destruction of the lightning nation and their near extinction has made them more so. Don't worry, I'll summon them in good time."

They travelled for days and eventually Azula worked out where they were going from the landmarks they passed and their rate of speed. The temperature of the wind that whipped her face began to drop sharply the closer they got to the south but Azula found she could still warm herself with her inner lightning just as surely as she had done before with her inner fire.

"We're heading to the Southern Air Temple aren't we?" Azula yelled over the wind.

"Yes, there are things there I would like to show you," Inazuma replied directly into the princess's mind.

Eventually the pair reached the porcelain white spire that was the Southern Air Temple. Dead but pristine and wrapped in white snow like bones picked clean and bleached white. Azula grinned. Another storm had begun to gather around the peaks and echoed in distant rumbles when they finally landed on the temple's outer courtyard.

"Kuwabara, kuwabara," Inazuma chanted.

"What's that?"

"It's a charm to ward off lightning. The old lightningbenders of the old empire used it as a good luck charm."

"Kuwabara, kuwabara," Azula repeated then smiled. "I like it."

The Tigerhawk led Azula through the temple with a purpose. She never hesitated to think about which turn to take and never paused at any doors. She simply pushed them aside or knocked them down. Eventually they came up to a wall where she stopped for moment.

"Protect yourself," she warned then gathered a globe of lightning around her tail and launched it at the wall which exploded into a deadly shower of debris.

Azula brought her arms in an X and swept them aside creating a shockwave of thunder that easily turned the rock into dust and then swept that dust aside. Peering through the clouds of fine powder Azula saw a tunnel leading down into the mountain behind the destroyed wall.

"Beyond is the secret history of the Air Nomads. Kept hidden from all but the Air Elders who guarded it from generation to generation lest some young sapling stumble upon the secret shame of their race," explained Inazuma as she led the princess down into the dark.

Inazuma created a floating orb of energy that lit the way making it easy to navigate. The steps were tiled but not worn as though few had passed through, though the stale air and age in the walls showed.

"This place must be centuries old," Azula noted.

"Millennia old, dating back to before the founding of the Four Nations as you know them. Before the coming of the Avatar. In the Fire Nation this is the time of the Sun Warriors but before even the Avatar," Inazuma explained.

"I see."

Eventually they found themselves in a large dome roofed chamber filled with frescoes and murals etched and painted into the walls and ceilings. Inazuma touched her tail against a large metal ball at the entrance causing a spark of electricity to jump into it and then there was light in the room radiating from strange glass orbs that produced light yet no heat or flame. It was like the glow crystals used in Ba Sing Se yet brighter and more natural.

"Electric lighting. The benders of the old Lightning Bureaucracy developed them, they use inert gas and metal wire to harness the light generated by lightning. Impressive isn't?"

"It is," Azula breathed clearly awed by such advanced ancient technology before smirking as she stroked her chin pondering what she could do with such technology.

But even that was dwarfed by the majesty of the room itself. It was pristine yet old, well preserved yet seemingly new as though the passage of time did little save cause dust to gather.

The ceiling depicted men and women in clothing like the ones she was wearing bending the lightning in their hands, from the sky and from strange metal devices Azula did not recognize. They bent metal as well and seemingly kept knowledge from the scrolls they held and at the center of the ceiling was what Azula could only describe as a floating island suspending a great metal city more beautiful than anything Azula had ever witnessed.

The walls however depicted in the Four Cardinal directions the four peoples. Firebenders depicted as warriors and generals, Airbenders depicted as messengers and diplomats, Waterbenders as healers and sailors and Earthbenders as builders and artisans. All bowing in harmony with each other and to the heavens. It seemed unprecedented that all the nations could be united as such.

"This room was built by the last of the Lightning Bureaucrats, the ancient ministers who watched over the world."

"What do these illustrations mean?"

"In ancient times when mankind first began bending elements they were divided based upon their geography. Proximity to ice and water created the waterbenders, volcanoes the firebenders, earth and deserts the earthbenders and the mountains and winds the airbenders. But the lightningbenders were the first benders of all, the first to master the original energy of life."

"Lightning."

"Yes, electricity animates life. It conceives it and births it. Without lightning in all its forms life would have not been possible. More than earth in bones, water in blood, air in our breath and fire in body heat lightning is the most primal element. At the beginning each of the nations lived together cooperating and using their abilities to help one another. It was the job of the lightningbenders naturally more brilliant and longer in memory and lifespan than others to document knowledge, experiment and plan. They were the first bureaucrats and they did their job with great honor and skill."

Azula mentally scoffed, there was no way she could believe bureaucrats had honor. Inazuma must have been exaggerating but it was hard to tell.

"To that end they created great technology culminating in the legendary Tianjing," Inazuma continued.

"The Floating City of Heaven?!" Azula gaped back up to the mural of the floating city now recognizing it.

"Yes, it wasn't just a legend. However another group of benders didn't want to share the sky with them."

"The airbenders," Azula sneered.

"Yes, just as the first firebenders were the Sun Warriors, the first waterbenders were the Moon Tribe and the first earthbenders were the Three Earth Empires. And finally the first airbenders were called the Bison Lords and they were a terrible lot."

"Oh," this perked Azula's curiosity.

"The Bison Lords were haughty and arrogant, they believed that because they soared over everything and went where they pleased that everything beneath them was theirs. While there were those that respected the laws imposed by the Lightning Bureaucrats on behalf of the other tribes many went around pillaging and raping and stealing. Until finally a powerful airbender named Temujin was born."

"Let me guess. He gathered all the Bison Lords and launched an attacked against the Heavenly City?"

"He did indeed. It was devastating. The lightningbenders were outnumbered and caught unawares. They were destroyed in an eye blink and in their desperation they crashed their city into ocean."

"Where is it? Is it still intact?"

"Perhaps, I don't know. All I know is that after the seat of Lightning's power was destroyed the Bison Lords went about hunting down every lightningbender and Tigerhawk in the world. They almost succeeded in wiping out my kind too. And what did the other tribes do? They abandoned them and the lightningbenders were no more."

"Tch! Those Lightning Bureaucrats should have tied tighter leashes around their dogs."

"Don't blame them for acting out of fear."

"Hmph."

"As a result the nations of world fell into the sequence of four mirroring the seasons. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. It seemed like divine providence that removing the lightningbenders could do this and the arrival of the Avatar only cemented that belief even though the very first Avatar was the last lightningbender and his purpose was to punish and avenge."

"He destroyed the Bison Lords."

"Not exactly, he pacified them and established the Air Nomads as you knew them. As peaceful monks living in mountains but regardless some of their arrogant philosophies still held true and the Air Nomads of old still thought themselves above material concerns though for less devious reasons. After that the first Avatar died forever ending the existence of lightning in mankind and the elemental pentagram."

"Until my great-grandfather unwittingly avenged that genocide."

"Correct. What he did might have been wrong but in thanks the Spirit of Lightning granted his descendants the power of Lightning."

"Hmm, that does explain why only those in my family beginning with Azulon can create lightning and even then we can't exactly 'bend' it."

"Precisely. It goes without saying that this is the legacy you must revive. With the airbenders gone a hole has been ripped into the Cycle of Nations and must be filled lest the world be sundered by this imbalance. You must become the Matriarch of a new Lightning Nation and replace the airbender's domain over Autumn and the Sky. Ideally I would like the old five nations, but we work with what we get, don't you agree?"

"You're telling me. But why have you waited for so long. Surely you could have approached Azulon or Iroh or my father? Or even my brother?" she pointed out with disgust.

"No, none of them have what it takes to build a nation. Only you have the necessary mind and charisma to do so. Your destiny is written in the stars Azula, we Tigerhawks have waited for decades for your birth since Sozin's genocide. For the Avatar to restore peace and for him to remove your firebending for this chance. This chance to take the dominion of the extinct airbenders in payment for the crimes of the Bison Lords. This is your destiny Azula. You must embrace it."

Azula paused and contemplated her offer for the longest of times. All her hopes and dreams had been stolen from her once upon a time. And now they were coming back to her. Her fate demanded more work and sacrifice but she was no stranger to it.

"You're right. I do need to do this. And the power I could gain is certainly tempting. Very well, I will build this new nation. I have land in the former domains of the Air Nomads but first I'll need people to rule over who will help me build. And I know where to start."

* * *

Author's Notes: Inazuma means Lightning in Japanese. A Gi is the outfit most martial artists wear. Normally white some people notable masters wear black. You can look up a hakama in google images. The characterson Azula's Gi are Japanese they read Raijin or Thunder God, this is also foreshadowing. Kuwabara Kuwabara is an actual Japanese charm to ward against lightning, metal gear solid and yu yu hakusho fans might know it.

More plot questions will get answered as time goes by so I'll try and write fast. Please be patient. Maybe I should change the 2nd genre to mystery. What does everyone think?

Yes she can bend metal. Two notes on that: her metalbending is merely a crossover like cloudbending(water/air), magmabending (fire/earth) and mudbending (water/earth), there's quite a few examples of that like when both Toph and Katara plugged up the Drill. However Azula's metalbending is more limited than Toph's, Toph can bend all metals that have at least a little earth in it Azula can only bend anything magnetic which is much less than Toph who can bend any metal with impurities like say certain titanium alloys which Azula cannot.

Tienjing means Heavenly Capital it's based on the Chinese/Japanese belief that Heaven is a floating island. The Lightning Bureaucrats are based on the Chinese Celestial Bureaucracy, a bureaucracy of gods and deified humans who maintain order in the universe beneath the Jade Emperor. The Bison Lords are based on the Mongols, Temujin is the birth name of Genghis Khan. It might seem a little implausible that the Tibetan based Air Nomads descended from a Mongol like state but quite frankly I find it even less believable that the Fire Nation descending from South American Aztec Sun Warriors! So yeah.

Also a note on pairings while I'm primarily a Tyzulian however I think I'll take a vote on pairings. An Azula pairing is very important to my plot and more importantly her character development but I need to decide which one and only one otherwise it gets silly. And yes Jet will show up. It's going to be a surprise how too. So head to my profile page and take the vote.


	3. Circuit of the Mind

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 03: Circuit of the Mind.

_"The absolute good is not a matter of opinion but of nature." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

* * *

_

"So where do you have in mind?" asked Inazuma as she flew in the direction specified by her new mistress.

"Kyoshi Island. Little Zuzu told me that's where I can find Ty Lee," answered Azula.

"I thought she betrayed you?" an expression of confusion seem to cross the tigerhawk's animal face as she tried to eye the princess at the corner of her huge eyes.

"She did, though I'm not really sure why. I want to know why. Regardless she's useful, I could mindbend her into my service then we can move on to heading to Ba Sing Se to find my Uncle who has information I need regarding spirits. And besides I need a cook."

"Fair enough."

"If my senses are correct there should be a storm of sufficient magnitude in about a week. Will make our move then. So take it easy Inazuma, no need to rush."

"Very well."

Kyoshi Island was not far so getting there would take no effort at all. When they did eventually get there they found a most interesting development. Well for Azula anyway.

Keeping to the tree tops Azula could see that not only was Ty Lee amongst the painted faces of the Kyoshi warriors but the village had some unexpected visitors. Sokka was amongst them training further with Suki who at one point had been Azula's favourite plaything and psychological case study. A curiosity Azula indulged in to test the limits of the human spirit and the emotion of love. In the end the Kyoshi captain never broke much to Azula's amusement. The greater the height the more painful the fall she surmised, it was too bad she hadn't had enough time to bring about that fall.

But that was not what bothered the princess; Mai was amongst them as well visiting Ty Lee it seemed as well as acting as a diplomat for the Fire Nation along with that powerful earthbender named Toph for some reason. Oh well thought Azula at least she could have a little chat with Mai as well and Toph the supposedly greatest earthbender alive would make an interesting first victim for her new powers.

"Kuwabara. Kuwabara," Azula chanted to placate the coming storms rage.

* * *

Mai had indeed come to Kyoshi island both to visit Ty Lee and as a diplomatic envoy on behalf of Zuko who was busy doing other things. Tensions between the Fire Nation and everyone else had improved (somewhat) but everything was still pretty heated but the knife-thrower had faith in her boyfriend even though few of the Fire Nation nobles did. Decidedly things had not so idealistically fallen into place as many had hoped. But still they persisted.

Sokka had taken to spending as much quality time (much to the jealousy and/or nausea of the other Kyoshi warriors) with his girlfriend Suki while Toph had tagged along if only to avoid having to go back to her parents who still hadn't given up pursuing her. That and she still had her primarily hormonal unrequited crush on Sokka.

To resolve their feelings the girls had taken to using Sokka as a test dummy/punching bag for chi blocking practice much to everyone's delight. Well except for Sokka of course.

"No no no the pressure point you want is three centimeters further up. If you hit the spot just half an inch lower you're going to make him lose all bladder control," Ty Lee lectured while Sokka rubbed a sore spot on his abdomen where one of the Kyoshi warriors had jabbed him.

Everyone snickered at the comment except for Sokka who only nervously laughed silently wishing he hadn't volunteered to pit his 'manliness' against their new-found skills in order to impress Suki. Obviously the water tribe warrior had not yet recovered from his genetic gender associated case of foot in mouth disease.

Azula had chosen to strike at the cusp of the coming storm, thunder rolled over the sea in the distance as black clouds slowly rolled onto the island. The villagers had all tucked into their houses awaiting the rain and lightning save for a few. Toph had gone down to the beach to practice some sandbending (and secretly to avoid having to sense Sokka and Suki making out) while Mai was busy discussing business matters with Oyaji the village chief.

The Kyoshi warriors (including Ty Lee of course) plus Sokka were still in the dojo practicing and passing the time. Azula decided it was the best time to make her move so she jumped from the trees and soared high into air using her lightning to generate gusts of magnetically accelerated plasma from the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet. Lightning jets that blared a spray of glowing blue particles and tiny electric sparks that let her soar across the treetops and land in the middle of the village as gently as a leaf.

Well a glowing leaf but no one was out to notice her, besides any light that filtered through the shutters of the houses could easily be mistaken for flashes of lightning. She then quietly sneaked from one house to another using her bending to open the metal locks with a flick of the wrist before bursting in. Each time she let loose a series of jabs into the air bending the electricity in the nerves of the residents overloading their synapses and rendering them all unconscious. She carried them all off to bed as easily as infants so when they eventually awoke they'd assume they simply went to sleep and think nothing of it. This way she could fight freely without someone running out of village to send for help.

It would only take one messenger bird to let the whole Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom know she was on the loose. And that would not do. Killing them all was sadly also out of the question, someone would visit this island eventually.

After she was done pacifying the village Azula went to the dojo and hid just outside the entrance. The occupants had yet to notice her but she could see them just fine.

Everyone was taking a break and getting ready to wind down and call it night. They all looked sweaty and tired and once more Azula was amazed by how water resistant their makeup was. Suki was separate from the cluster of people in the center floor as she was storing away the weapons they had been training with. Then Ty Lee left the group and approached her.

"Ah Suki?" the acrobat began.

"Yeah?" Suki paused in her work to talk face to face with her new warrior.

"I was wondering if I could get some time off to visit someone?"

Ty Lee smiled as sweetly as always. Suki didn't know the girl was well as her other warriors but found that Ty Lee was a very easy person to get along with and they became fast friends.

"I don't see why not. King Kuei said we won't have to assist the efforts on the mainland for at least another month. Planning on saying hi to your family?"

"Uh…yeah,"Ty Lee giggled nervously and scratched the back of her head.

Suki narrowed her eyes at the Fire Nation girl clearly bemused at her poor attempt at lying.

"You're going to see that crazy firebender aren't you?"

"She is not crazy!" Ty Lee protested with more fury than Suki thought was in the petite girl, she was always so laid-back and joyful that anger seemed alien to her.

"Wow wow," Suki raised her hands in defense. "Sorry, it's just that you and Mai never talked about her even when we were back at the Fire Nation Capital. I figured you simply stopped caring about her."

"Yeah well. It's kind of a difficult topic you know."

"I heard from Sokka who heard from Zuko that his sister hasn't exactly turned over a new leaf. In fact she's as evil as ever I hear."

"So, that's no reason not to see her. I think she just needs someone to talk to."

"She had you thrown in prison."

"Well I did kind of punch her in the back. I'd be pretty mad too."

"You do know that she went nuts right?"

"I do. And I feel kind of responsible."

Somehow Suki didn't doubted that. The acrobat's commitment to the fire princess had always surprised the Kyoshi warrior. She found it very touching even if it was misplaced then again Suki imagined that if Aang, Katara, Sokka or any of her friends ever did something bad she'd still find it in herself to forgive them. She hoped.

"…You don't have to stick up for her. She forced you to follow her."

"I know."

"She had your safety net set on fire! And had wild animals put under that!"

"I know and I confess I'm still scared of her. But I still feel sorry for her Suki. Li and Lo said she went nuts because she cared not because she didn't so I want to help her find the good in her. Like I did. Like Zuko and Mai."

"…You're strange Ty Lee."

Ty Lee simply giggled nervously in response again, unsure of how to verbally respond to that very truthful and accurate comment.

"I guess it's kind of nice of you to care but are you sure that's really the best thing to do?" Suki asked concern written all over her face.

"Of course. That's what friends are for right?"

Suki smiled at the girl's thoughtfulness. Despite her thoughts against it Suki knew she had no right to butt in on Ty Lee's personal life, especially since she wasn't even from the island in the first place.

"Alright. You can go with Mai when she leaves. But I expect you back here as soon as you're done. We still have a lot of work to do."

"Yai! Thanks," Ty Lee hugged her new leader who hesitated for a moment before returning the hug taken aback for a moment by the enthusiastic affection the acrobat tended to exhibit.

One would think after a few weeks with her one would grow accustomed to such outbursts but Suki still found herself startled each time it happened.

"No problem. But be careful around her, that's an order!"

Azula couldn't help but cringe and decided now was as good a time as any to move in.

"Why wait until Mai leaves Ty Lee?" Azula announced jovially as she stepped into the dojo, arms folded disdainfully with a rock in one hand.

The heads of the two hugging girls jerked swiftly at the voice as the other warriors jumped to their feet in fright at the sight of the princess so casually walking into their dojo. Her presence brought back fearful memories of scorching blue fire and crackling bolts of lightning. Until they remembered that Aang had taken away her firebending filling them with false confidence.

"What are you doing here?!" Sokka was the first to demand as she drew the katana Suki had given him still remembering how dangerous she was even without firebending.

The other warriors followed his example and drew their metal fans ready to fight, even Ty Lee took a stance and readied her knuckles for combat.

"Azula!" Ty Lee gasped. "You look terrible! What happened to your hair!?" was Ty Lee's first question which broke the tense atmosphere with the inappropriate oddity of it all.

Azula raised an eyebrow at her former friend before chuckling to herself.

"Oh Ty Lee, still the same I see. Even if you have gone all the way down to fraternizing with the enemy. How very treacherous of you!" Azula ground her teeth at the last sentence expressing her displeasure as she tightened her grip around the stone she was carrying and crushed it into dust.

Lightning had made her stronger than ever and her enemies winced at the amazing feat of strength.

"Are you listening to me!? I said what are you doing here?!" Sokka asked again.

"Wasn't it obvious I was ignoring you the first time?"

"NNNGGHHH!!" Sokka fumed so hard his face went red. "Why does everyone do that!?"

"Maybe it's because you're boring. But to answer your question I came here to find Ty Lee."

"Me?!" squeaked Ty Lee not sure what the princess was implying.

"What do you want with her!?" Suki demanded as the Kyoshi warriors and Sokka immediately shuffled towards the acrobat in case the no doubt deadly princess was about to try anything.

"Calm down. If I wanted her dead this whole building would be a smoldering crater already. I'm not here to fight."

"Well Zuko didn't send any messenger hawks saying you'd be free either," Sokka deduced. "You escaped didn't you?"

"Well aren't you observant," the lightningbender rolled her eyes. "Like I said I'm not here to fight."

"Well excuse me if I don't believe the psychotic firebender who nearly killed my friend and beat up my girlfriend. We all know that you always lie and that you're a really good liar and that you went even crazier after my sister beat you. But I also know that Aang took away your firebending so your powerless. So I suggest that you surrender now before we-"

Having finally lost her patience Azula took a steady stance and thrust a left spearhand faster than they could think shooting forth a bolt of chain lightning that forked before it hit Sokka and arced straight into the four other Kyoshi warriors at his sides. The hairs of those not hit stood on ends while the forks of electricity struck the others square in the chests sending them flying into the walls which they bounced off like rag dolls.

Even as they lay on the floor arcs of electricity still jumped from their bodies making them twitch.

"Sorry you were talking to much," Azula joked.

Letting loose a primal roar Sokka and Suki charged at Azula swords and brought them down on her in killing blows. Azula merely smirked and caught them both between a pair of her fingers. The two warriors had a second to express their shock at the frightening speed and strength of the lightningbender before she sent ten thousand volts of electricity through their weapons and into their bodies.

Both warriors went into spasms against the hilts of their weapons unable to let go as their muscles locked until Azula relented in their torture letting them slump down smoldering a little from the electrocution. But before either of them could hit the floor Azula drove a kick into Sokka's gut creating a shockwave of thunder that sent him flying through the wooden wall behind and then judo-flipped Suki in the same direction sending her crashing into the prone from of her boyfriend outside.

Ty Lee had watched the whole exchange dumbstruck by both the ease at which Azula had dispatched her friends and by the new aura the princess had let free when she bent her lightning.

"Azula what happened to you?! You're aura it's like…like…" Ty Lee stammered.

"Like what?" Azula asked sweetly awaiting the aura-seeing girl's response.

"It's magnificent and…and terrifying. Hot as fire. Yet cold as ice. Dark as night. Yet bright as the sun. It's like a thunderstorm!"

Azula let loose a huge booming laugh. In the past Ty Lee had said her aura always resembled a corona of cool blue fire; so hot is was cold and ever so efficient and controlled but now she was glad to see that her new powers had brought about some desirable cosmetic changes as well as physical ones.

"So do you want to fight as well? Or can we talk?"

Before Ty Lee even responded she ran up to her friends and checked their pulses and breathing. They were all unconscious but alive, even Suki and Sokka causing Ty Lee to sigh in relief.

"Well?" Azula happily reminded as though she had all the time in the world and walked out into the open forest where Sokka and Suki lay with Ty Lee at their side.

"Why did you do that?!" Ty Lee screamed as hot tears ran down her cheeks.

"Because I don't have all day. So can we talk or should we fight?"

Ty Lee was torn between her desire to avenge her friends and her instinct to run for her life. She didn't know if Azula genuinely wanted to talk or kill her for her past betrayal, the princess had never been easy for anyone to read. And there was also that niggling part of her that wanted to help the princess as a friend.

Before Ty Lee could give an answer Azula felt the magnetic twinge of several steel objects rushing towards her. Turning her head faster than a heartbeat she saw Mai in mid-air and her kunai already let loose and hurtling towards the princess. Her flying daggers had always been swift but now they seemed so incredibly slow, not only that Azula could feel the iron in those blades. They felt so close, like she could just reach out and touch them.

And so she did. Assuming a firm stance against the ground she charged her body with lightning that crackled about in a sinister azure aura then thrust an open palm forward and like magic all the daggers stopped dead in mid-air floating just inches from her outstretched hand. Those still conscious stared in horror at Azula's feat of metalbending as she smirked in triumph before the princess turned her open palm into a fist and thrust forward in a single fluid motion causing the daggers to fly straight back at their thrower.

As soon as Mai's shoes hit the ground her own daggers caught against robes pulling her off her feet and sent her flying straight into a tree where the blades pinned her fast. It happened so fast it took a moment for Mai to realize what had just happened leaving her with a dumbfounded look on her face before she tried to pull herself free to no avail.

"Stupid silk robes!" she cursed herself for wearing extra expensive extra tough silk.

"Now you know how we feel!" swore one of the Kyoshi warriors who was struggling to get to her feet; muscles still numb from the electricity.

Oyaji and Toph had also come running to see and feel what was going on. As soon as they caught sight of the defeated warriors and the triumphant form of the princess the village chief immediately turned tail and ran while Toph sent a wave of earth at the lightningbender with a forward thrust of her hands.

"I'll get help," he yelled back as he ran right before Azula shot him in the back with a well aimed jab of lightning as she sailed through the air spinning away from Toph's attack.

"Bah, I don't need it," Toph noted cockily before turning to face Azula with her trademark stance; hands upturned and facing inwards and a wide grin plastered on her face. "Finally some action."

"Are you sure? I seem to recall all of our previous battles ending with your face flat in the dirt," the princess taunted.

"Wow, you going crazy must have messed up your memory cause I recall always kicking your butt!" she added strength to her last words before kicking a stream of rising stone at Azula who somersaulted over and drop kicked the ground sending a shockwave of sound at the earthbender.

It moved so fast she couldn't block it in time sending her flying and when she stopped Toph found she couldn't get back up. Her ears were ringing from the sonicboom making her so dizzy she threw up her lunch onto the ground in front of her.

"Sonic boom. Jiggles the liquid in our ear canal. Really useful," Azula playfully explained.

Toph didn't respond.

"Oh right, temporarily deaf too."

Finally Ty Lee steeled herself and sprinted at the princess and somersaulted over her in an attempt to try and hit her from behind but Azula saw her strategy a mile away and ducked under the curled fingers of the Chi blocking expert and swept her feet right up from under her. Spinning to her feet Azula brought down her charged fist at the acrobat's mid-section but Toph bent the earth under her sweeping her away and instead the princess's fist grounded itself in the dirt fusing sand into veins of glass.

Toph then stomped up a set of boulders and sent them flying at the princess with a flurry of punches before slicing the air with her trademark knife hands with her forefinger and thumb connected that sent spikes of stone racing to their target at sharp angles.

The first set of flying stones Azula simply dodged by tilting her head slightly to each side and she side-stepped around the spikes of stone. Toph then drove one palm forward and another backwards causing two spikes to erupt aimed in both directions the forward one beginning at the princess's foot. Azula simply jumped off the first and back-flipped over the second grabbing the end as she did in order to flip forward back onto her feet.

The blind earthbender then raised her open palms to herself and pulled backwards shifting back on her feet as she did causing a wave of wet soil to rise behind Azula hoping it could smother her but Azula simply shot her backhand at it without even turning sending a shockwave of thunder smashing it away with contemptuous ease.

Toph could not land a single hit however hard she tried for Azula had one ability that was comparable to and in some ways better than and in other ways worse than Toph's seismic sense. Nerve sight. Azula could literally see an enemy's next movement, next thought and next action by watching the electricity moving through their nerves. It only worked within her line of sight unlike Toph's that was omnidirectional so long as it was on the ground but electrons moved faster than vibrations. A lot faster.

And besides Azula was really, really fast.

"Come on didn't you once threaten to roll my head?" Azula continued with her banter.

"Oh just you wait. I'm the greatest earthbender in the world. And you're going to get your butt handed to you!" Toph threw back trying to hide her increasing frustration. Not even Aang was this nimble then again after the botched Eclipse mission this was hardly news to the noble girl.

Ty Lee had long since gotten to her feet and tried to strike her former friend's arms while she was distracted but Azula simply stepped into her move and pushed her off with her shoulder before spinning into a kick to the acrobat's face. Ty Lee cartwheeled out of the way rolling with blow even as she felt the tingle of static against her face from the near miss.

Without wasting a motion Azula spun back into a stance and drove her fists to her sides sending thunderbolts that shattered the stone sheets Toph tried to crush her between with a clap of her lands like she was praying. Then the lightningbender sent a sweeping side kick that shot a curved arc of lightning at the earthbender.

Raising an arm up in defense Toph raised a shield of stone just in time to connect with the lightning bolt but rather than just stop it the stone wall exploded in a shower of dust and pebbles that sent the tiny girl flying. She hit the dirt with a teeth jarring impact before quickly rolling backwards onto her feet cursing herself for forgetting just how useless rock was against a stream of superheated plasma before more bolts raced at her from strong punches.

Toph swept her hands skywards raising her up with a pillar of stone that exploded under her feet 'blinding' her momentarily before she smashed head first into earth and tunneled under. While Ty Lee tried again this time for Azula's neck, again Azula spun into her reach and grab Ty Lee's arm sending a current of electricity into her before sending her flying with a judo flip right into the still pinned and struggling body of Mai. They both screamed at the top of their lungs in horror before the spinning body of Ty Lee crashed into Mai in a mockery of kissing knocking the two of them out and making their eyes swirl from the impact.

Azula seeing the strategy of the Blind Bandit took to the sky on blue streams of energy completely out of Toph's field of 'vision' just before the ground disappeared into a sink hole where she had been standing. Toph burst back to the surface stance at the ready while trying to hear for her enemy.

She didn't need to wait long before Azula landed behind her on the snow covered grass.

"There you are!" Toph quipped and raised a slab of earth and sent it flying with a push before she encapsulated herself in a massively thick dome of stone awaiting the counterattack.

Azula slid under under the spinning slab on her knees then sprang up and paused for a moment drawing the chi within her to and sent it skyward to connect with the storm above. Then she raised her hand above her head, flat and open in a knifehand or karate chop then brought it down so fast that it was blur. Then a huge bolt of lightning raced down from the sky lighting up the island in a flash of pure cerulean and crashed down in front of Toph's thick earth dome creating a massive explosion that shattered it to dust and sent the pint sized earthbender flying.

She didn't fly long though for just as she was about to pass over the prone but now awake forms of Sokka and Suki Azula suddenly appeared and grabbed the earthbender by the ankle halting her flight before slamming her back into the dirt knocking out what little wind was left in the Earth girl's lungs.

With the fight beaten out of her Toph barely struggled when Azula lifted her up by the throat. The little girl tried to pry the lightningbenders slender fingers loose but found that they were too strong. No one she ever knew was this strong not even Hippo or the Boulder and fear began to creep into the earthbender.

"N-No…no way! No one is that fast! Not even twinkle-toes!" Toph commented fearfully between coughs.

"Don't you know? Lightning is faster than anything on Earth, even the wind," Azula joyfully explained reveling in her new-found power.

The bolt was huge; bright enough to be seen all over the island and where Toph had stood was now only a massive smoldering crater more than ten meters wide of scorched earth and fused glassy sand. The fight had taken Toph and Azula far enough away from the dojo and into the forest that the dojo remained unmarred by the explosion which flashed snow into scalding steam and set fire to many trees before the rain extinguished it.

Everyone tried to struggle to their feet as the numbness of the electrocution worked to keep them down. Their whimpers even from the normally stoic Toph told Azula that they once more feared her and it sent shivers of delight up her spine. She was back she then knew. The terrifying warrior princess was back.

"You know when I first caught you two in Ba Sing Se I simply threw you in prison yet out of mercy I never did more than that. A mercy you never afforded me. A mistake on my part I intend to correct!" Azula gave them a slasher smile like a grinning shark and used her metalbending to lift Sokka's sword into the air where it hovered above the still paralyzed bodies of both him and Suki who was lying on him.

Everyone had regained consciousness and could do nothing except grunt and scream as they tried to struggle against the electrically induced paralysis that would take at least a few more hours to pass. Even Mai had yet to wrench herself free, the silk of her clothes was just too strong and Azula had buried her knifes too deeply and in too many places for her to even slip out of her clothes.

"You two die first," Azula explained sinisterly drinking in their fear like a fine wine.

"Wait! Please don't hurt them anymore I'll talk to you!" pleaded the braided hair brunette who despite still being numb had crawled up to Azula's feet.

"Oh Ty Lee I'm not going to hurt them."

"Y-You're not?!"

"No of course not."

"Oh thank goodness I-"

"I'm going to kill them, it'll be quick. No pain involved," Azula replied casually then stepped out of the girl's reach before Ty Lee could try and chi block her legs.

"No! Please! Don't!" Ty Lee continued to beg as Azula got ready to drive Sokka's own sword between the two fear filled lovers. Then she hesitated.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill them?" the princess then asked.

"You're not a bad person Azula. I know you've never killed anyone before even though you could have so many times. Please don't start now!"

"Ty Lee I've never killed anyone before because I always figured I could 're-educate' them into the service of the Fire Nation. Well except for the Avatar. Now there is no Fire Nation. I'm no princess and these are enemies that need to be put down. So give me a reason not to if you can," Azula grinned from ear to ear relishing the delight of her little revenge against her former minion.

Ty Lee was on the verge of hysterics; panic threatened to take over her and somehow she imagined that were she born a boy she'd never have been able to come up with the response she came up with.

"Because they could be useful to you!" she blurted out.

"What?" Azula raised an eyebrow secretly grinning to herself as Ty Lee got the right answer.

"B-Because you might able to find a use for them later. Sokka's really smart and…and…Toph is really powerful. You got the Dai Li to swear loyalty to so easily so I'm sure you could convert them one day and…and…if you kill them Aang will go crazy and hunt you down and…and-"

"I said one reason not three. But still that's good, very good. You're certainly more perceptive than most would think."

Then she shocked Toph into unconsciousness and zapped everyone else save for Mai and Ty Lee. She threw away the limp body of the earthbender then pulled her hand towards herself into a fist ripping the daggers holding Mai to the tree off along with large pieces of wood in the process.

"So can we talk now? Or do you want to fight some more?"

* * *

At the very least Azula had allowed her former friends to tend to the wounded who had all been moved into the dojo to rest. Azula meanwhile brewed some tea and set it down on a table she borrowed in the middle of the training hall. After the two girls had finished tending to their friends Azula motioned them to come and drink with her. They were decidedly apprehensive about the matter of course.

The rain had finally come and the dark of night was lit only by some oil lamps and the storm that seemed to accentuated Azula's words.

"I haven't poisoned your tea. Now sit!" she ordered and instinctively the two non-bending girls fell to the floor and sat cross-legged.

Gingerly they picked up the cups offered to them and drank gagging a little at the taste of what could not be genuine tea. It wasn't poisoned but boy did it taste bad.

"What's the matter Mai? Don't you have the courage to face me when Zuko isn't watching?" Azula teased causing Mai to flinch ever so slightly.

"If it means getting back to him I will fight," Mai shot back.

"You know you're wasting your time. Zuko is hardly someone I'd call faithful. You know he betrayed both his loving Uncle and his father in the space of a couple of months. He didn't even trust you enough to tell you he was leaving either or run back to save you when you saved him at the prison. Sooner or later he's going to leave you probably for that waterbender I bet. Did he tell you that he got that scar on his chest saving her from me?"

"Well I told him if he leaves me again, I'll break his arms and legs and tie him to the bed," Mai grinned even as she sweated cold in fear of the unstable princess.

"Now that I would like to see," Azula chuckled as she took another sip of tea.

"I don't hate you Azula," Mai said finally. "It takes too much effort," she then added.

"Really? Or are you just saying that so I won't kill you? And if so why not? You've never been that forgiving." Azula knew she was lying, mostly. Mai definitely held some hatred for the lightning princess.

Mai had joined Azula's gang more out of boredom than fear. That much was clear when she didn't jump into the drill slurry pipes after the Avatar's friends or when she simply let his other friends take the Earth King's bear without a fight and when she had finally betrayed the princess for Zuko. Yet she obeyed Azula's suggestion not to trade King Bumi for her baby brother, partly because she didn't like the kid and partly because she feared disobeying the princess. So she feared her a little and she definitely feared her now.

"I haven't forgiven you Azula but I don't have any reason to hate you. It's not like you gave the order to cut the cables at the Boiling Rock, I know it was my uncle who did it."

Well Azula hadn't expected forgiveness nor wanted it. In any case in Azula's mind it was Mai who should have been seeking her forgiveness not that the princess imagined any of these self-righteous people would ever think that.

"Oh but it's not like I tried to save him."

"You were doing you're job. I don't think I can hate that many people Azula just for that. Besides I asked to follow you when you came to Omashu."

"True, but I thought you'd hate me more for throwing you in prison to rot and for trying to kill your boyfriend a few times."

"Whatever. I'm over it. You were right about me being afraid about caring and I'm so over that. I love Zuko and I won't stop loving him no matter what. So if you try and hurt him I will end you."

"That sounded like a threat. A very good one at that. Why don't you try now," Azula offered her exposed neck just to tempt the knife-thrower into giving Azula a reason to kill her.

"I'm tempted but I know Zuko would hate me for it. And besides I owe you."

"Owe me? Owe me what exactly?"

"For getting me and Zuko together. I know you only did it for laughs and giggles but it's a fact that Zuko and I would never have gotten together all those years ago or back in Ba Sing Se if you hadn't done something about it. I met his new girlfriend the night before we left you know. To put it bluntly; I'm grateful that you picked a shy girl like me as a playmate because of him."

"Now that is a very interesting reason. Well that was nice to hear but I originally came here to ask 'Ty Lee' why she betrayed me. So then Lee, why? Why did you punch me in the back?"

"Because I didn't want you hurt Mai!" the acrobat immediately answered. "You aura was going crazy. You've never been that angry. I thought you were going to kill her!"

"Probably," Azula replied casually as though the act of killing a friend meant nothing to her.

"How can you say that so casually?"

"Because I can," Azula smiled like an adult watching a foolish child.

"That's horrible!"

"Oh gee I hadn't notice. Still why attack me, you could have tried knocking out Mai, or maybe just protested verbally. Then maybe I would have calmed down or did you finally grow tired of my presence?"

"What?! I hit you because you right in front of me."

"That's it?! It was that simple all along?"

"Well yeah."

Sometimes even Azula was surprised by how simple the noble girl was.

"So you didn't think even a little at getting back at me for what I did back at your circus?"

"No! Ok maybe a little. At first I followed you because I was scared you would hurt me. But during our journeys together I realized that you really did trust me and I honestly think of you as a friend with a lot of problems of her own," the innocence in Ty Lee's response actually stunned the mind-reading princess.

Though she needed to actually poke through a person's brain like reading a book to actual see what memories they had surface thoughts they tended to billboard; those being the most active and immediate mental projections. And even though she could see it Azula could always tell when someone was lying even without her psychic powers.

"I don't get it. You should hate me for threatening you into joining my mission."

"Well I did get a little angry but I got over it."

"Really?" Azula asked sarcastically.

"Well yeah. I mean traveling with you and Mai was really fun. Even though I always thought what we were doing was kind of wrong it was still pretty cool."

"Interesting."

"Remember when we were kids Azula at the academy. I was there with all my identical looking sisters but despite that you picked me and me alone. You don't know how much that meant to me. To be special. And besides I want to thank you for helping me get over my problem."

"Oh and what problem is that."

"Well I joined the circus because I wanted to be noticed. There everyone paid attention me. But really I was just running away from my problems. After that time on Ember Island I realized that I didn't need to stand out if I had friends who really cared about me. I mean heck I certainly didn't go back to the circus after Zuko became Fire Lord."

"Yes, you became a Kyoshi Warrior. A band of identical looking warriors."

"Yeah I found new friends. Thanks to you. But you're still our friend. After I heard what happened to you I knew that you really cared, otherwise you wouldn't have cared that we betrayed you. You're sick Azula. You need help," pleaded the acrobat.

"Everyone keeps saying that. Like I have some kind of disease that makes me cruel and vicious."

"That's what the doctors said. They said that you have mental disorders which means it isn't your fault. You don't know what you're doing! Let's go home Azula. Let's go back to the palace, back your family. I'm sure if you said you were sorry Zuko would let you come back," Ty Lee then pleaded with the most adorable puppy dog eyes she could muster.

"So you're saying that if I repent, that if I just say sorry and promise to be good everything that I've supposedly done wrong will be forgiven and we'll all get to live happily ever after? Is that what you're saying?"

"Of course."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I don't think I've ever been so insulted in my life."

Although Ty Lee was taken aback Mai merely glared already expecting that response.

"I see. Well I'm glad we had this talk," Azula finished then added: "But while you might forgive me I will not forgive you."

Jabbing out her curled fingers into the air she bent a set of nerve clusters in their necks rendering them both unconscious before they could even blink. Mai collapsed onto the table knocking over her tea while Ty Lee fell backwards banging her head against the floorboards.

"Are you going to kill them?" Inazuma asked as she suddenly stuck her face in the doorway of the dojo.

"No. Not yet. I'll let them live for now. They can still be of use to me later. And besides."

"Hmm."

"When I kill Zuko I think I'll mindbend Mai into gutting him like a fish. Then I'll mindbend Ty Lee into strangling Mai. Then you can have her for dinner."

And with that Azula rose to her feet and left for the village leaving the Tigerhawk to eye the beaten bodies of Azula's enemies and former friends with pity.

"But I hate human flesh," Inazuma noted before bounding after her mistress.

* * *

The lightningbender went about collecting supplies from the village to replace that which she had used on the way to Kyoshi Island. The villagers were 'cooperative' on the matter and she had no trouble restocking herself on food and money. She had long since mindbent everyone into forgetting yesterday's events as well making them attribute their injuries to training injuries and it would still be a few hours before they would awaken. For now Azula was simply waiting for the storm to pass so she could set out again with Inazuma without being drenched to the bone. This way she could also enjoy a warm bed and some fresh food for a change.

Finally morning came bringing with it the end of the thunderstorm and Azula felt more lethargic then when she had gone to sleep. The passing of the storm left her feeling as tired as dusk once did when she was a firebender. Regardless she awoke, went through her morning routines then headed for the beach where Inazuma was waiting for her.

"Ready to leave?" the Tigerhawk asked.

"Yes. Next stop Ba Sing Se."

"Wait!" suddenly came a loud and very familiar yell.

Spinning around Azula caught the sight of Ty Lee running down onto the beach.

"I thought you mindbent her?" Inazuma asked as cool as a cucumber.

"I did."

The next second Ty Lee stopped right in front of the princess panting hard with her hands against her knees.

"A-azula *pant* w-what…what are you doing here?!" she continued to gasp for air.

"Leaving," Azula replied plainly as she tried to restrain herself from knocking the Kyoshi warrior flat-lined with a thunderbolt and move on.

"Wait! Did Zuko let you out. Did you two make up?"

"No and just so we're straight we are friends no more," Azula charged up her lightning ready to end her former friend's life, there was no storm now and she could ill afford to let the acrobat live knowing she had escaped.

"Friends forgive each other right? I'm sorry that I punched you in back. I just didn't want you kill Mai! We're all friends right?!" Ty Lee was on the verge of crying again but Azula noticed that the whole time the pink-loving girl's mind had not shifted once to the lightning in Azula's hands.

"You still consider me a friend?"

"Yes I really do. I wanted to come home and visit you. I want you to get better so we can be friends again please? I know you really care even if you can't admit it!"

"You're nauseating you know that."

"Let's go home Azula. Let's go back to the palace, back to your family. I'm sure if you said you were sorry Zuko would let you come back," now she was repeating herself and Azula found that annoying.

"Goodbye Ty Lee," Azula replied sternly but politely.

"Fine then I'm coming with you!" she replied before Azula could kill her.

"What?!"

"You heard me. If I can't talk you into seeing the good in you then I'll show it to you. I'll follow and show you that doing the right thing is the right thing."

Azula took a moment to think about it weighing her options. She knew she couldn't trust the acrobat but then again a warrior like Ty Lee was useful so maybe. Why not?

"Fine you can come but you'd better be useful."

"Yai!" Ty Lee squealed and she threw her arms around the princess's neck.

In the past Azula would have pretended to enjoy it and hug her back but she was past that and she simply waited for Ty Lee to let go, putting a time limit before frying her of course if she didn't stop.

It was then that Ty Lee finally noticed the massive Tigerhawk standing behind the princess and jumped in fright.

"Wow! Oh my he's so cute!" she squealed and immediately glomped the massive tiger. "What's his name!?"

"I'm a she and my name is Inazuma," the tiger politely answered blushing a little under her thick snow white fur at the sudden but welcome embrace.

"You can talk?!"

"Why yes. Well no not really you see I'm-"

"Oh wow! I thought only parrot-lizards could talk! This is so awesome!"

Azula simply rolled her eyes.

"Believe me it's easier if you just say you can talk," Azula explained and the Tigerhawk simply nodded sheepishly.

Azula huffed to herself but smiled when she realized that despite not going exactly as planned she had accomplished exactly what she had originally set out to do when she arrived on the island.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring her?" Inazuma asked using her mind so only Azula could read her thoughts.

"Well you know what they say. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. There are so many ways I can use her," Azula explained through her mind while letting her eyes rove her the acrobatic friend's lithe and slender body.

"In more ways than one," Azula added with a smirk and licked her lips.

"…Oh I get it closer. Ahahahaha," Inazuma finally laughed twenty seconds later.

Azula couldn't help but slap her forehead at the Tigerhawk's idiocy.

And so the trio left the island and set off the Earth Kingdom mainland, their destination Ba Sing Se at least two weeks of travel by Tigerhawk away. Longer if they needed to take detours and pit stops.

* * *

Author's Notes: Ok this chapter seems cornier the second time I read it through. Weird. Thanks to all my reviewers who have been keeping with this fic. Things will get more action packed from now on. Oh and anyone who says Cole McGrath gets a cookie.


	4. Defib

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Interlude 01: Defib.

_"People do not lack strength; they lack will." - Victor Hugo

* * *

_

Several months earlier in the City of Ba Sing Se.

Azula had taken the great capital city of the Earth Kingdom and in record time at that. Her great-grandfather, grandfather and Uncle had all tried and failed miserably most pathetic of all being the Dragon of the West even after months of costly battle but not Azula. Those who bore witness to her triumph could not help but be awed at the grandiose scale of her feat for not only was she the only person to ever conquer the capital she was the youngest conqueror ever witnessed on Earth and she did it practically single-handed.

Who would've have guessed that a girl of the tender age of fourteen would be able to topple a whole continent single-handedly with just some strong words and a pair of groupies.

Azula had spent the first few weeks re-establishing the country's bureaucracy to fit her father's goals turning it into a bustling Fire Nation metropolis filled with industry. An industry that saw the creation and completion of the Serpent Gate along the Serpent's Pass among other things along with establishing the Dai Li as the prime movers of the city. To that extent the unfortunate brainwashed Stepford Women known as the Joo Dees had been placed in numerous bureaucratic positions per Azula's instructions. The highest position the role of Supreme Bureaucratic Administrator was given to the Joo Dee who she learned had been assigned to watching the Avatar and his friends.

Azula had to admit that as a woman she found such ill-treatment distasteful but ultimately she couldn't have cared less and was more concerned with their interesting technology namely the hypnosis machines and made a note to make good use of those in the future.

It was during one of her trips into the Dai Li's secret headquarters beneath Lake Laogai - previously sealed to avoid the Earth King finding it - that the princess came across her most interesting discovery yet. In one of the iron cells Azula found three interesting occupants. One a plain and wiry looking fellow with a large circular hat, the other a gruff and boyish looking little girl and the last one a ruggedly handsome lad around Zuko's age with darker skin and a ragged mop of dark brown hair on his head.

The silent boy and the boyish girl stood over the rugged teen who was well bandaged and without his shirt. Injured apparently from some severe damage to his ribcage. His two living companions were crying for him and Azula could see that he was not breathing.

"Who are they?" Azula asked one of the Dai Li agents she brought with her to guide her through the catacombs beneath the lake.

"Rebels princess. The dead one is named Jet, the little boy with the paint marks Smellerbee and the quiet looking one they call Longshot."

"Interesting school names," Azula noted with amusement.

"That's what we thought as well," the Dai Li agent smiled nervously as he tried to flatter the princess.

"Flattery doesn't suit you."

"Sorry."

"Open this door. I want to see the dead boy."

"As you wish princess."

One of the agents opened the steel door and almost immediately Smellerbee and Longshot lunged at them before the two Dai Li agents pinned them to the opposite wall with their rock gloves. Even then they struggled to guard the corpse of their leader and friend.

Azula walked by her agents unperturbed by the gruesome transaction and walked up to Jet's body and inspected him. She gently brushed aside the hair from his face admiring his handsome if very dirty features. In the back of her mind Azula wondered what he would have been like in life.

"How did he get this wound?" she asked as she fingered the bandages covering the large gash on his chest.

"Long Feng hit him with a rock spike smashing his ribcage into his lungs. We operated on him, stitched and cleaned the wound as best we could so we could make use of him later but still he died," one of the Dai Li answered.

"When did he actually die?"

"About ten minutes ago actually, he managed to hold on for days," answered the second agent.

"10 minutes eh?"

Then a thought crossed the Fire Princess's mind making her smirk.

"Stand back," she ordered and while confused the Dai Li backed off a little.

Drawing electricity from her two pointed fingers Azula jabbed them into Jet's chest sending currents of energy into his heart. His body spasmed and for a few moments his heart pumped blood through his body. Azula could feel his pulse run for a few seconds then it stopped again. She bit back a curse and pressed her lips over his mouth blowing air into his lungs a scene that deeply shocked and disturbed all those viewing. Then she tried her lightning again.

It was on the third attempt that Jet suddenly sprung back to life gasping for air as his heart raced back into life before he slumped back down exhausted but breathing steadily. Azula looked pleased while everyone else simply stared with their jaws hanging. Eventually Jet's two friends started crying tears of joy for the revival of their leader.

"H-How did you do that?" a Dai Li finally asked.

"Just an idea. I shot a bolt of lightning into the corpse of a drowned Earth Kingdom soldier once for fun and miraculously he sprang back to life. It was really quite shocking," she joked.

"I see…" clearly the agent found her story to be very morbid if extremely fascinating. Her humor however took a few moments to register at which point the agents laughed nervously annoying her further.

"Anyway clean them up and have them brought to my quarters. Make sure the boy doesn't die again."

"Yes princess."

A couple of hours later the trio were dragged to the princess's room once the royal bedroom of the Earth King and deposited unceremoniously onto the stone floor. Gone were all the strange mismatched clothes, dust and odd makeup and in its place were a trio of well polished and well dressed Earth Kingdom teens who clearly found their fine wears positively caustic to their skin.

Their hands were still bound in stone of course while their feet were secured to the ground. Not that they could actually harm the princess but conversations went better this way with some of the Dai Li standing at the ready.

"What do you want you Fire Nation cow?" Jet demanded clearly put off by being saved by a firebender of all people.

"Is that anyway to talk to someone who saved your life?" Azula cordially replied.

"I'd rather have been eaten by buzzard-wasps!" Jet spat back.

"Now now. You're far too handsome to be wasted like that. I think flesh eating jelly-piranha would be more appropriate," she smiled sadistically and Jet noticeably turned pale.

The other two teens remained silent through the entire ordeal simply glad that Jet was back and even silently grateful to the princess for doing it and just plain wishing he'd shut up so they could live a little longer.

"What's the matter little girl, do you hate me for reviving your boss?"

Upon hearing the word girl used in conjunction with her Smellerbee's head jerked up from looking at the floor to stare at Azula with an expression of shocked joy, a slight blush staining her tanned cheeks before she turned away in disgust.

"What's wrong?"

"Great…the first person who notices that I'm a girl and it has to be a Fire Nation chick," then her expression turned to bemusement.

"Aw, were you hoping for a cute guy who would sweep you off your feet. What's the matter aren't I manly enough for you?"

Azula spoke seductively and drew a clawed finger against the young girls cheek causing her to shiver in a way that conveyed far less disgust than she would have preferred. It was almost too bad that Azula had no idea that she was being seductive at all.

"Come to think of it you're kind of cute."

Smellerbee visibly flinched and recoiled from the princess's touch while the boys simply flushed pink and wondered why they weren't protesting or trying to vomit. The Dai Li were having similar reactions.

She left the young girl alone and moved back to the rebel leader, far more interested in him than his companions. She had revived him for a reason after all.

"I can see you're whole life in your eyes Jet, you were born a bumpkin, a peasant. You had nothing to speak off but still you had something and even that you selfishly held onto. Was it your daddy or your mommy that the Fire Nation killed? Or was it both? It was both wasn't it. You were lonely and scared, you wanted someone to reach out, pick you up and tell you that it was ok and that you were safe but no one did, did they? They were all too busy being selfish, too busy looking out for themselves to care. And to deal with that fear you turned to anger and that comforted you. You became a rebel, justifying the means with the ends. You didn't like it when you had no control over your life, so to overcome your fear you craved power and bloodshed."

As she spoke each word rang true in Jet and the rebel couldn't believe he was hearing this. From a firebender no less, he always assumed that they were tactless barbarians not this inhumanly perceptive vamp.

"Come and see this."

Azula beckoned to her earthbending agents to drag the trio to a balcony where they could look over the great courtyard of the royal palace and beyond the walls and the buildings of Ba Sing Se.

"Look out at this city. Once it was a land of decadence, obstinacy and corruption but I changed all that with just a couple of my girls and a few fancy dresses. Establish an easy system to follow and force the people to fear and everything becomes orderly. I'm an agent of order you see. And the funny thing about order is that it's all about control. There's comfort in that kind of control. Would you like to be in control?"

Jet could not tell why but the more he listened to her the more he wanted to listen and believe everything she said. This wasn't like the brainwashing the Dai Li had subjected him to. He honestly wanted to take in every word the princess uttered like her voice was divine and hypnotic, rather than have it forced through every barrier he erected. There was an unmatchable charisma there that was irresistible and tempting even though it flew in the face of everything he stood for. How could one so beautiful and terrifying have such power he wondered.

"I…I do," Jet muttered clearly shaken by Azula's piercing words.

Even Smellerbee and Longshot were stunned by the epiphany they were having and Azula's speech hadn't even been directed at them.

"Then go out there and have your little fun. It'd be interesting."

After that they were let loose, free to leave the city and go about their business wherever they chose.

"Why did you let him go?" Mai asked.

"Because he has an aura about him."

"Azula! You can see auras too!?" Ty Lee bounced in and asked joyfully hoping the princess would say yes. Then she'd have a kindred spirit.

"Not like that. He has an air about him."

"You mean he stinks like poop," Mai joked.

"No, I mean he's charming and charismatic."

"Are you saying you like him?" Ty Lee girlishly asked.

"Perhaps. What I'm saying is that he's the kind of person who draws people to him. To his cause."

"But he's a rebel against the Fire Nation," Mai pointed out.

"Your powers of perception are amazing but you see that's the point."

"What? That he's our enemy?"

"Correct. But you see aside from being charming and charismatic he is also something else. Something far more important."

"What's that?" Ty Lee wondered innocently.

"He's stupid. The kind of stupid that get's people killed. The kind of stupid I'm going to use to weed out and put down rebellions. People will flock to him and gather. Then I can burn them all in the same charnel house they cower in."

Author's Note: Sorry this is a short chapter I was meant to release days ago but forgot. I'll try and upload the next action packed chapter tomorrow.

Cole McGrath is the protagonist of the videogame Infamous, depending on how you play him he's either a saint or a sociopath but the mechanic of this Grand Theft Auto-esque game is that you get electricity and magnetism powers. A lot of powers from which I formed the basis of a lot of lightningbending moves.

As for some concerns raised over Ty Lee it did occur to me that she is somewhat OOC; she's a very minor character making her quite hard to write since there's so little screen time devoted to fleshing out her personality. So a lot is open to interpretation based on what is shown.

Also the ending seemed very rushed to me, awesome but very rushed. Azula just had more serious character development in four episodes than in two seasons, truck loads of potential for a fourth season with her as the new Big Bad then all of a sudden she has a breakdown as part of some weird justification to make her lose for once then everyone forgets that she ever existed like Nickelodeon was running out production money or something. Perhaps it can be attributed to Mai and Ty Lee just not caring anymore which seems even more OOC for them or maybe they just didn't want to talk about her since it's a very sober topic and not something you wanted to bring up with a Disney ending. However from the little than can be gathered from The Beach I find it quite realistic that Ty Lee would try rather desperately to reform Azula. She strikes me as the helping kind.


	5. Magnetic Personality

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 04: Magnetic Personality.

_"The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions." - Confucius

* * *

_

Present Day just off the coast of Chin Village.

The trio left Kyoshi island together. Ty Lee sat in front of Azula as they flew on the account that Azula didn't want Ty Lee behind her where she couldn't read her thoughts (also Ty Lee had a habit of trying to tickle her). Ty Lee screamed half in fright and half in excited joy when they took to the air hugging Azula tightly in the process simply by turning on her waist farther than Azula thought was physically possible.

Inazuma couldn't help but snicker even as Azula kicked her furry sides as payback.

Ty Lee then described in more words than the lightningbender could follow just how magical an experience it was. Keep in mind lightningbenders are lightning fast. Then 30 minutes later Ty Lee screamed when she realized that she had left all her stuff back on the island.

"We'll get you new clothes on the mainland. I have money," Azula sighed and wondered to herself if the benefits of bringing Ty Lee really did outweigh the costs.

Then she wondered how Ty Lee had found her in the first place…Oh no!

"Ty Lee. How did you find me on the beach?" Azula asked calmly, Azula never ever panicked. She took everything including danger to her own life with detached calm even when things looked positively grim.

"Oh I was going down to the beach to catch crabs for dinner then I saw you. I took me a few seconds to recognized you with your funny haircut," Ty Lee playfully teased causing the princess to narrow her eyes on her ruined locks trying to see if mindbending could make hair grow faster. No? Darn...

"Won't your new friends be worried about you?"

From the long period of silence followed by the scream of horror the answer was no.

"Send them a letter when we land."

Sometimes Azula wondered what hanging oneself to death would feel like.

Ty Lee had changed it seemed, although jovial and eternally optimistic save when dishing out a world of hurt (about the only time she got serious) the acrobat cum Kyoshi warrior had become considerably bolder since they last met. Before Ty Lee would be friendly and obedient but maintain a degree of distance with the princess out of fear. Now Ty Lee was near literally all over her trying to be insufferably friendly, her fear for the lightningbender apparently gone.

Azula attributed it a combination of things. One Ty Lee had finally gained a spine ever since she attacked Azula and for another thing she had gotten over her attention seeking complex, if joining a band of similarly dressed and similar looking women was any indication of that.

The mainland was not far, barely a few hours travel by Tigerhawk and the first town they arrived in was Chin village. Inazuma deliberately flew to a nearby beach a good enough distance away that she wouldn't be spotted. They were fugitives after all. Here the water was warmer and the first thing Ty Lee did was stripped down to her underwear and run to the water. Kyoshi island water was freezing but the waters here were warm. Well warmer, certain benders like air, fire and lightningbenders (strangely not waterbenders) and martial arts were extremely resistant to the extremes of temperatures especially the cold.

"Come on Azula let's swim!" squealed the acrobat.

"Ty Lee the letter!" Azula reminded and the acrobat ran out of the water.

Still in her underwear but dried off Ty Lee wrote a letter that was acidically cute and gave it to Azula trustingly to deliver to a messenger service in the village. Looking it over it stated that Ty Lee had decided to head to her circus to say goodbye to old friends. There were no invisible messages or secret ciphers that she could see and a quick peek into Ty Lee's brain confirmed as much.

Azula sighed to herself and headed into town to buy the girl some new clothes for the road and some extra food to compensate for the extra mouth to feed.

"Watch her, I don't want her sending off a message to my brother or any of his friends," Azula instructed her Tigerhawk.

"As you wish."

The money she got of course was from Kyoshi village and from the mental hospital. It was plentiful at that, she had no intention of traveling like a peasant.

Then Ty Lee appeared at her side dried off and dressed. How the heck did she do all that so fast wondered Azula.

"Fine, let's go shopping first!" Azula sighed to herself for the third time that day.

The princess and her friend spent the whole morning shopping trying to find appropriate clothing that Ty Lee would willingly wear that was her size. In the end she found one that was not only her size but also pink. Azula hated pink but knew it was futile to get her anything but pink. In the past she had tried giving her red clothes but Ty Lee simply bleached them pink and added frills.

Even now the thought of those frills made Azula cringe with disgust. Somehow the pair got separated but Azula didn't bother to search for her. Ty Lee was smart enough to get back to their camp on her own. She hoped.

Eventually Azula trekked back down to the beach where a very dripping wet Ty Lee could be found sunbathing.

"Come on Azu-Nya, let's swim!" squealed the former Kyoshi Warrior.

"Azu-Nya?!" Azula shot Ty Lee a most disgusted look.

"Yeah, Inazuma said that in the old Lightning language Nya is the sound a cat makes so I thought it would suit you as a pet name. Here I even made these cat ears for you."

Holding up a pair cat ears hand made from wood and fur (taken from some winter clothing Azula had packed) Ty Lee attempted to stick them on Azula's head. Right up until Azula accurately shot them from the arcobat's hands with a well place bolt of lightning that surprisingly didn't even tingle Ty Lee's fingers.

"Oh nice shot…hey wait a minute…My cat ears! I spent all morning making those."

"And?" Azula growled.

"You're mean," Lee replied and pretended to cry.

Azula sighed in response and walked off.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea?" Inazuma pointed out.

"Oh shut up," Azula narrowed her eyes in annoyance and threw a rock at the Tigerhawk which relative to her size bounced off her furry head like a pebble.

After that Ty Lee dried off and tried on her new outfit vehemently thanking Azula while she dressed. A surprising feat considering how dexterously she dressed herself while maintaining complete verbal articulation.

Said pink outfit consisted of a beautiful floral pattern kimono with wide baggy sleeves with red strings around the arms that exposed her shoulders, the bottom cut off short forming a skirt tied with a long and wide sash Azula tied for her forming a pretty ribbon. Actually Azula tied it more practically but the contortionist literally bent over backwards and changed it herself. She wore white stockings and wooden slippers on her feet. To add a little more flair Ty Lee put a jade lily in her hair.

"How do I look?" Ty Lee cordially asked.

"Great, you'll draw the attention of every man in every town we walk through," Azula exclaimed and rubbed her brow.

"Thanks!"

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Huh?! Why!?"

"I'm trying to be inconspicious remember."

"Oh right."

"Anyway get over here and fix my hair."

Azula imagined she could probably just go to a saloon but Ty Lee did a pretty good job as well and it would save them the money in case they needed it. She took out her hairpiece and let her silky hair spill over her shoulders. Her bangs were still months away from regaining any degree of symmetry so for the time being Azula gritted her teeth and dealt with looking like she had fight with a pair of gardening shears.

"Why are you after your uncle anyway?" Ty Lee asked while she brushed her friend's hair. "You're not going to try and hurt him are you?"

"Not unless he tries to hurt me first. Fair enough?"

"Uhm…I guess. So why are you after him again?"

"Because he holds greater knowledge of the spirit world than anyone alive. The only other was Zhao but he's long gone. In addition to that Uncle was able to enter the spirit world itself an experience which left him changed."

"So why do you need know about the spirits?"

"I'm after one spirit in particular known as Wan Shi Tong the Spirit of Knowledge. It is said that this spirit has a copy of every book and text ever written. I believe his library may contain Lightning Bureaucracy texts. Texts which may contain ancient technologies that far exceed what we have today."

"Wow, that sounds kind of cool. But wait you said that the Lightning Bureaucracy was an ancient kingdom that built Tienjing. Shouldn't they have other ruins?"

"None that still stand save the ruins in the Southern Air Temple. Or at least according to Inazuma. All their collective knowledge they stored in the Floating City and that went down into the ocean. Where I have no idea."

"Hmm…Is Inazuma sure about that?" Ty Lee wondered out loud.

Azula had long suspected that the Tigerhawk was either correct, didn't know or was actually lying but her thoughts were transparent to the human lightningbender and Azula couldn't read the creature's expressions. It was a tigerhawk after all.

"I don't know. Either way it's the easiest option I have. The only option really so I'll work with it."

Ty Lee spent nearly three hours brushing, washing, combing and tidying up Azula's hair until it was soft and silky again before tying it back up into a topknot. After that Azula pulled out a map of the Western Earth Kingdom.

"Ok traveling through the Si Wong Desert is an option, an unpleasant one filled with sand raiders and dust storms but it's the quickest route to Ba Sing Se. However the Earth King has stepped up the military presence in that region to deal with both the raiders and sporadic rebellions along the Chameleon river," Azula explained with militaristic efficiency.

"Rebellions?" Ty Lee asked puzzled.

"Haven't you heard?"

"Well Suki did say we had to go help out stuff on the mainland. I didn't ask her what for though."

"Sometimes I love your stupidity you know that," teased the ex-princess with a smirk.

"Hey!"

"Anyway the Earth Kingdom is in chaos right now. The power vacuum caused by taking down the Fire Nation has caused a lot of city states and armies to rebel and declare independence from the Earth King now that they no longer need to share their dinner. They're like buzzard-wasps picking at a corpse now that the liger's had its fill. It's pretty sporadic right now so I've heard even the Avatar in all his divine might can't seem to stay on top of things."

"I feel sorry for Aang," Ty Lee offered her sympathy in spirit to the air monk. "So what are you planning on doing now Azula?"

"For now I say we travel north by sea. The Earth Kingdom has few ships so we'll be safe that way. After that we'll-"

"No what I meant was what do you plan on doing in general. You said you broke out of the hospital and you're going to your uncle so you can find a library but what do you plan on **doing**?" Ty Lee waited for Azula's answer then suddenly a thought hit her. "You aren't going to try and kill Zuko are you?!"

"No," Azula lied convincingly. "I'm not as petty as he or any of his friends are."

"Oh thank goodness," Ty Lee breathed a sigh of relief.

"He can have the Fire Nation. I never wanted to be Fire Lord anyway."

"You didn't? I always thought you wanted to be the one in charge?"

"I want power Ty Lee. I fight to win. But I wanted more than anything to be by my father's side. Why do you think I brought Zuko back when I could have just killed him in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se?"

"Uh…I dunno," she shrugged.

"I did it because I knew my father wanted more than anything for Zuko to be his perfect son so I hoped to give him that. If it were just the throne I wanted I would've just killed my brother. But then Zuko spat on my generous offer and father left me behind as Fire Lord when he became the Phoenix King."

"But he's in prison. Aang took away his bending like he said he took away yours," Ty Lee pointed out. "Are you planning on rescuing him?"

"No, he left me behind before so he can rot for all I care," once again she lied like a professional. "As for what I intend to do well Inazuma offered me a desirable proposition I intend to pursue."

"What's that?"

Azula was reluctant to tell the acrobat her plans but she imagined telling her a few details would actually help her reach her goals. And besides it distracted the inquisitive mite from her real intentions. And so she explained at length. As Ty Lee listened though she began noting some very interesting points the princess didn't really care about.

"Then you can restore balance to the world," Ty Lee suddenly interrupted as Azula recounted all the history of the Lightning Bureaucrats that Inazuma had taught her.

"Excuse me?"

"If what Inazuma said is true then your Lightning Nation can replace the Air Nomads. You can restore the Avatar Cycle and restore balance to the world. Then you can help Zuko bring peace to it. He could really use the help right now."

"Right," she droned sarcastically. "I suppose I could do that."

"Why don't we just ask Aang to help. I'm sure he'll be glad to help you if it means bringing back peace to the world."

"I would sooner swallow a barrel of acid."

"Oh don't be like, Aang's a great guy once you get to know him. He's funny and friendly, he tells great jokes and he's so lovably cute and he has the prettiest aura and-"

"He raped me Ty Lee!" Azula screamed so loud and so fiercely that Ty Lee backed up so fast she fell to her rear.

'W-What?! Aang would never do something like that!!" Ty Lee squeaked in protest.

"He didn't do it intentionally. Nor physically."

"B-But…then…how? What did he do you to Azula?!"

"He took away my bending," Azula replied plainly using every ounce of her willpower to restrain her fury.

"But you can still shoot lightning," pointed out the acrobat.

"Only lightning. He took away my firebending."

"Then what's wrong?"

"You don't get it do you moron? To do it he violated my soul. He raped me in a way no physical penetration could ever compare to. He invaded my spirit and mutilated it! Patting himself on the back the whole time he did it."

Azula pounced onto her friend and pinned her arms to the sand. A look of wide-eyed and slavering mouth mania was evident in her visage. A look that deeply frightened the pink-clad girl more than anything in her life. The Princess then started to rip off her friend's clothes while biting hard against the smaller girls pale flesh eliciting moans of mixed pain and pleasure as she did.

"W-What! What are doing?! Stop it!!"

"I'm showing you what he did to me!" Azula screamed spraying spittle into Ty Lee's face.

"It hurts! Stop!"

"Oh but you like it too. I didn't even get that pleasure. All I got was pain! And humiliation!" Azula spoke erratically, breathing heavily like she was hyperventilating. "Then…nothing but cold and darkness," unconsciously Azula began to cry and sob spilling salty tears onto Ty Lee's face.

The pair just lay there, transfixed in each others' eyes. Ty Lee had forgotten her danger and could only stare at the sad lightning gold eyes of her childhood friend while Azula remained paralyzed by the painful memories Ty Lee had unintentionally dredged up. It took a few minutes for Azula to notice that she was crying and that Ty Lee could see her crying. When she realized it she pulled herself away as quickly as she could like she had been burned and furiously rubbed away the tears from her eyes.

"I'm going to hunt for dinner," Azula announced to no one in particular and left towards the nearby forest eager to catch some game and to take her mind off of the past.

Ty Lee simply lay there watching her leave and as Azula did a great well of pity opened up in the acrobat's heart and she swore to herself that she wouldn't leave the princess of lightning ever again.

* * *

They traveled North along the coast but several miles out to keep themselves from being spotted. Inazuma could travel twice as fast as Appa and they planned on circling around the continent to enter the capital city from the North. Most of the Earth Kingdom Navy was in the river and bay south where they could cut through the continent more easily rather than in the Northern Sea since the rivers were the only real source of freshwater in the Earth Kingdom so towns and villages tended to be built around it and that would allow Azula easy entry into the city.

The trio were right now flying over a small strait of sea between the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. To the west lay Crescent Island while to the east lay Senlin Village. They had traveled almost non-stop for days and Azula was itching for a bath and a soft bed.

The mood had been rather solemn and silent ever since that little incident near Chin Village limited only to a few choice words said during the preparation of meals and such until finally Azula said something rather uncharacteristic of her after stopping off on a small deserted island to rest for the night.

"Listen I'm sorry about what I did," Azula apologized all of the sudden thinking she may as well if she wanted to keep Ty Lee by her side.

"That's ok. I should've thought about it before saying anything," Ty Lee replied and gave the princess a warm smile. "But I didn't know you like girls Azula. I thought for sure that you only liked guys."

"Tch," Azula chuckled a little under her breath. "I'm royalty I can like whoever I want whenever I want. I'll be honest with you Ty Lee. Remember that time at Chan's house when I said I was jealous?"

"Yeah, you were so funny when you tried to act so girlish," Ty Lee giggled wholeheartedly remembering that little incident, that precious little moment where Azula was for once in a long time just a normal teenage girl.

The only other time was when the two of them and the Dai Li much to everyone's amusement tried to get Mai and Zuko together with mitigated results.

"Right…The truth was I wasn't just jealous that you were able to pull in boys so easily. I was also jealous of them for holding your attention."

"Y-you were?!" Ty Lee wasn't sure if she be flattered or disturbed for truth be told she certainly did find Azula's company more desirable than those of fawning boys however handsome.

Not that she didn't find men attractive as well which made her wonder if she was one of those people who liked both kinds.

"When did you know? That you liked girls I mean," Ty Lee questioned.

"Ever since the day of comet."

The day of the comet? That was when she had fought and lost to Zuko and Katara. Then lost her mind. How could she have learned her orientation from that? Ty Lee wondered.

"Wait. What happened after the comet that made you realize that?"

"…Let's just say I'm a Red Songbird."

"Huh?" Ty Lee didn't get the reference.

All she knew was that Red Songbird was a fictitious character in a popular poem about a warrior maiden of the Fire Nation who swore that she would never fall in love unless it was with a man of greater strength and skill than her though any further details alluded her. The acrobat certainly wasn't fond of old war stories.

"Let's just that you kind of tickled my Red Songbird as well."

"Uhm ok?" Ty Lee just shrugged unsure of what Azula meant.

"Anyway I'm bored."

"Oh did you have something in mi-"

Before Ty Lee could finish her sentence Azula pressed her soft lips furiously against those of her friend and tackled her to the ground. Ty Lee didn't protest or fight and simply let the princess of lightning make love to her on the sandy beaches.

It was then that she realized that her feelings for her childhood friend were pretty real.

* * *

They eventually landed in a forest somewhere west of the Pohuai Stronghold owned by General Shina. The information Azula had gathered was that it was apparently still occupied though probably not for long. Azula correctly deduced that the Avatar would sooner or later demolish it, capture all the soldiers in it unwilling to submit to Zuko's rule and strip everyone of their bending. She had gleaned plans of such from Zuko's mind during one of his visits just not a specific date. The Avatar probably wouldn't require very long.

As usually they sat up camp, well Ty Lee did anyway while Azula went looking for firewood to ignite with her lightning. After that she hunted for wild game, electrocuted it and served it with some hot soup and rice.

Azula watched as Ty Lee cooked for them, back in the days when they were together Azula being a trained tracker and ranger would catch them fresh food with Mai while Ty Lee gathered plants and cooked for them. Azula was also a master of poisons and watched carefully as Ty Lee prepared their meals.

It was not in Ty Lee's nature to resort to such tactics, lethality was the bane of the acrobat's modus operandum but it didn't hurt for Azula to stay sharp. All because they were lovers didn't change the fact that Azula knew she should be cautious at all times.

"It's good thing you brought her along. I don't think I could survive another day of your cooking," Inazuma joked.

"My cooking is not that bad!!"

"You used it as poison to catch my last dinner."

"Ok maybe I used a little too much salt."

"A little?!"

Ty Lee giggled at the unlikely pair's banter before sitting down to eat with them. Inazuma it seemed could 'yell' with her mind. Seeing no reason against it Azula slipped into a more relaxed state of mind and the three girls (if you remembered that Inazuma was female) began chatting the night away.

The next morning brought with it renewed spirits or at least it made Ty Lee feel refreshed. As for Azula she rarely felt refreshed after a night's sleep unless there was a storm nearby or a lot of thick clouds overhead. Sure a storm invigorated her more than the sun ever could but Azula found that sleeping below a certain altitude contributed to her fatigue making her wish that she had a floating bed. Inazuma's saddle made a poor mattress.

"You know I'm starting to see why the Lightning Bureaucrats built a flying city in the first place," Azula noted sourly then headed for the river to wash her face.

It was there that she noticed a wooden ship sitting on the beach just a hundred yards away. Taking a closer look Azula surmised two things; first it was not a fishing boat and second it was completely empty. Which could mean only one thing:

"Oh great. Pirates," she groaned in aggravation.

Then she heard the unmistakable scream of Ty Lee followed by a few manly grunts of pain. Azula contemplated simply letting the acrobat handle the pirates then decided that perhaps killing some people would make her feel better and so she ran faster than any human should possibly be able to run and got there in an instant.

Just in time to run into a large smoke cloud concealing the sounds of battle. Her nerve sight let her see the electrical auras of a dozen men plus Ty Lee within the cloud which was beginning to make her nose itch so she took a deep breath and let out a roar like thunder that swept away the smoke.

The shockwave was so intense that it made the trees shiver and the combatants had to fall to ground and clutch their ears to keep their heads from exploding like melons. When the smoke cleared Azula ceased her screaming and swiped a bit of drool from her lip. She took a glance at the battlefield noting down everything she could and immediately formed a battle plan. To her glee Ty Lee had only paralyzed three of the dozen pirates attacking her.

"Excellent, plenty of victims," Azula chirped happily.

The pirates were an odd bunch of mismatched ruffians one of whom wore a distinctive hat and had a parrot-lizard on his shoulder and a long sword in hand. There was also another pirate wearing lipstick which made Azula quirk an eyebrow at.

"Your belongings or your life!?" the pirate captain demanded unperturbed by Azula's display of bending prowess.

Without a moment of hesitation or remorse Azula thrust out an open palm and unleashed a massive stream of chain lightning that struck the pirate with lipstick square in the chest burning straight through him before bouncing into another pirate. The bolt simply flowed from one pirate to another one by one searing through their hearts killing them painfully including those paralyzed by Ty Lee. All but the pirate captain who turned around to see his men struck dead in a split second by the ruthless princess.

Ty Lee nearly threw up from the smell of roasted flesh and immediately protested.

"Azula! Why!? You didn't have to kill them!!" she screamed.

The parrot-lizard took to the air to try escape after seeing the destruction and death unleashed only for Inazuma to leap out of the bushes and devour it whole. Ty Lee gag at the sight feeling sorry for the poor bird while Inazuma audibly crunched its bones in her massive jaws.

The pirate captain was stunned and paralyzed by fear as Azula slowly and sinisterly approached him grinning like a predator ready to devour its prey.

"How about **your** belongings or **your** life?" Azula reveled in the joy brought to her by rubbing the irony in his face.

"S-sure…my ship is by the beach. You can have it all. Just please don't kill me," he fell to his knees and threw away his sword begging for his life. Azula found it pathetic but it made her happy to know she was still as intimidating as ever.

Glancing over their belongings Azula suddenly realized that the locked metal chest she brought with all the gold she collected for their journey was missing.

"Where's… our… money?" Azula drew out her words for effect further intimidating the pirate captain who swore he never met someone so scary.

"I…I don't know?

"You're lying."

"Ok, we were hired by some noble. His men spotted your bison and told us to search for you around here."

"Bison!" Inazuma spat in protest.

"Well you looked like a Sky Bison. Why white fur and big thing flying around and all. The Avatar's used to fly around here a lot you know."

"You haven't answered my question. Where is my money?" Azula asked a second time.

"I told you I don't know. The kid took it and ran! Ask him!"

"Who is this kid? Describe him."

"I don't know. Late teens I guess. Dirty mop of brown hair."

Well that was pretty generic. Azula knew at least three dozen boys with mops of dirty brown hair. Wait?! Azula caught a glimpse of him from the mind of the pirate. A face she recognized and outwardly she smiled.

"Then who is this noble?"

"I don't know he got the messenger kid to hire us. Said we'd split the loot sixty forty. I don't ask questions."

"I see. Thank you," Azula said finally and grabbed his face and ripped the memories from his skulls before she snapped his neck like a twig before he could beg for his life further.

"Azula!!" Ty Lee cried.

"What?" Azula asked genuinely puzzled why her friend was protesting.

"He surrendered! You didn't have to kill him!"

"Actually he was about to stab me see," Azula pointed to the corpse and Ty Lee followed her finger and saw indeed that the pirate captain had his hand on a concealed dagger.

"Oh…but you saw it! You didn't need to kill him!"

"Ty Lee this man is a pirate and a fiend. Did you see what he was thinking. What he planned on doing to us? What he's done? Here let me show you!"

The lightning princess dug her fingers into Ty Lee's face, without a storm she couldn't bend her thoughts and memories but she could still impart them like speaking words and let her companion do with them as she pleased as surely as a firebender during a solar eclipse could wield a mechanical flamethrower.

Cold and dark thoughts assaulted the innocent mind of the circus girl, showing her terrible and lecherous things she'd rather not have seen. Ty Lee knew such evil thoughts existed in people but to see them so vividly was something else and it made the acrobat fall to her knees hyperventilating in horror when Azula finally drew away her hands.

"See? Now do you understand?"

"Is…is…is it always like that for you?! Do you always see the world like that?"

"…Yes…even before I could read minds. But enough of that did you get anything that belonged to that boy?"

"Yeah I got this," Ty Lee offered the princess a torn piece of blue cloth despite still feeling exhausted by the experience.

"Good job Ty Lee. I have an idea."

In one of Zuko's stories he had talked about a bounty hunter named June who rode a creature called a shirshu a blind predator that could track a rat by scent a continent away. Ty Lee had a piece of cloth from the thief who stole her money and well you do the math.

After burying the bodies of the pirates the girls (Inazuma included) clambered onto their new ship and inspected their goods. There was a lot of interesting items on board that were probably meant to be sold as well as a lot of gold even more than Azula carried which pleased the princess greatly.

After that Inazuma helped Azula push the ship back into the water since there wasn't enough metal in the wooden boat to bend on her own much to her chagrin.

"Why are we chasing after this guy Azula? We have more than enough gold here," Ty Lee asked as they sailed leisurely down the river towards the town and more specifically the tavern where they would find the infamous bounty hunter.

"It's the principle of the matter not the amount owed Ty Lee. Besides I know this boy I saw his face in that pirate's mind."

"You do?"

"Yes, remember that rebel I found in Ba Sing Se."

"That cutie?! Oh wow who'd've thought we'd ever run into him again?"

"Certainly not me. Either way I have a way of tracking him."

Hours later they arrived at a seedy tavern at the edge of a town nestled in a forest. True enough the shirshu named Nyla was waiting outside for his mistress and Inazuma decided to get acquainted with the creature while her human companions searched the tavern. The two girls entered the tavern and immediately their senses were assaulted by the foul stench of alcohol and body odor.

It didn't take them long to find the woman in question, Zuzu had provided a mental image for Azula to work with and she spotted her target in the crowd easily. The only woman in a building full of burly men she was enjoying herself by arm wrestling a man several times her size and muscle mass and winning with alarming ease.

"Wow! I don't know who this June lady is Azula. But I like her," Ty Lee praised.

"So do I," Azula replied.

The pair approached the bounty hunter who had returned to sitting with her feet up and a cup of tea in hand and all attention suddenly turned to the trio of beautiful and sexy warriors. Azula simply glared at all the men and they backed off all thoughts of flirtation dispelled by that look. Azula just didn't have the time not that she was against it. June looked the two over and smiled before speaking.

"What can I do for you?" the bounty hunter asked cordially.

"I'm interested in purchasing your services. Interested?" Azula began.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" asked June.

"You might see the family resemblance," covering up one side of her face Azula deepened her voice and made a mocking impression of her brother. "I must find the Avatar and restore my honor."

June couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"So what are you his sister?"

"Correct."

"Older surely?"

"Believe it or not no."

"That's hard to believe. So who do you need found? An annoying boyfriend I suppose?"

"Annoying definitely boyfriend remains in question," Azula threw back the playful banter.

"Fair enough. So how much?"

To answer her question Azula threw a huge sack of gold onto the table which collapsed under the weight.

"How about that?" Azula smirked.

"That'll do?" now this kind of client June liked. "I like you. You're punctual, to the point and generous. I think we're going to get along swimmingly."

With the shirshu to guide them Azula and Ty Lee rode forth on Inazuma's back to wherever in the Earth Continent the thief who stole their money had gone. They trekked across the countryside for two days before eventually reaching a small and quaint town.

"That's interesting," June noted.

"What's interesting?" Azula asked.

"This is the town of Gaipan. There was a Fire Nation outpost here until freedom fighters flooded the whole thing."

"Yes, I had heard that. I believe our old friend Jet is responsible for that though apparently the Avatar managed to save everyone."

Said town had however been drained, the dam fixed evidently by the work of earthbenders and the town restored. Though rather than the usual mixture of the young and the elderly this tiny little village was home to only the young and very young. It was almost like a large orphanage really.

"I say we head inside and find out what's going on," Azula instructed and the warriors dismounted and strolled on in.

Predictably they were met with suspicion from all the young boys and girls, surprisingly many of them appeared armed then again this far out not being armed only invited raiders. At least they had the walls and a gate to protect them from the occasional bandit.

They didn't have to wait long to run into:

"You!" Azula shouted as soon as she spotted the all too familiar form of Jet.

Amongst him were his previous band of motley Freedom Fighters including the archer Longshot, the young girl named Smellerbee, the giant curiously named Pipsqueak and the young staff-wielding boy named The Duke. But none of them were carrying the weapons of their previous occupations. In fact if Azula were to guess (and she guessed right) they had become the village elders or seniors. Overseeing and caring for the no doubt orphans of this village.

"Well this is interesting Jet. I gave you freedom and told you to go have fun and what do you do? You start an orphanage?" Azula droned with a clear tone of disappointment in her voice.

As soon as she made her presence known the former rebels instinctively reached for weapons that weren't there. Realizing their foolishness they tried to run to the large house at the back of the village in order to retrieve them but Azula immediately barked at them to stop.

"Stop! We're not here to fight!" she yelled.

"Yeah! We just want to talk and maybe date one or two of you!" Ty Lee added playfully.

Of course they didn't listen and ran straight into the house and grabbed their assortment of weapons well except for Pipsqueak who just picked up the nearest large heavy object which happened to be a wheelbarrow like it a weighed a feather.

"What are you doing here!?" Jet demanded.

"I see you remember me," Azula replied happily.

Then her expression hardened and she extended her hand forward in a beckoning gesture.

"Now return my money," Azula demanded.

All of the other children had long since vanished leaving the teenage fighters to take care of the invaders. But even from within the meager safety of their houses they still looked through the grills of their windows and yelled cheers to their protectors.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jet lied very unconvincingly.

"What are you doing here anyway? Are you running an orphanage or something? Did you give up a life of bloodshed to change diapers and breastfeed babies?" Azula patronized.

"Shut up! Get out of here you Fire Nation cow and take your friends with you!" Jet demanded.

"Fire Nation cow? How very unoriginal," Azula feigned offense.

"Let's see. What do we have here? Ah," Azula began to gesticulate very strangely. She waved her hands around and moved her head about like a connoisseur trying to identify a flavor in a food she had just tasted. "You destroyed this village in the past but then you came back. You took in children both the orphans you had cared for in the past and many more. With a range of talent and young earthbenders you rebuilt these homes and made the town into an orphanage for those who lost their own in the war."

She continued to make her odd gestures deeply unnerving all those who watched and heard, even June and Ty Lee found it disturbing but no one more so than the freedom fighters as everything Azula said was true.

Azula was reading their minds. All their minds, casting glances to their heads as she uttered words that triggered thoughts she brought up by making them unconsciously turn to the pages of their brains she sought. Then the faces of Katara and her friends, their voices as well flitted through the mind of Jet.

"She made you stop. They all made you change. You stopped your battles and put down your weapons but it was a mistake both to disarm and to try and live in the open like normal people. Where you had the forest to cuddle you like a gentle mother and protect you from the bad men before; this town offered you no such comforts like a lying father and so you were attacked by more of a beast than a man."

Images of torment and suffering were brought before her psychic sight. At its center a man with jagged scar down his face came into view, he had a great pointed bearded and moustache and his long hair was done up in a topknot.

"This creature and his minions outnumbered you, outmatched you and you couldn't run or hide. Not with this many innocent children surely. I see. To spare yourselves the chain and whip you bargained with him. You would take from the needy to give to the greedy so as to sate his avarice and spare yourselves."

"But why? Why did you not call for help? Why not seek out the Avatar or his friends. This lord clearly didn't take hostages. A most foolish course of action."

"Pride?! Oh how very masculine."

"H-how…how do you know all that!?" Jet finally blurted out.

"I'm a people person. So where is he? Where is this Gao?"

The freedom fighters jerked at the mention of the name. How could she know they wondered.

"Do your children know?" Azula teased and cast glances at the timid forms huddling in their cozy houses.

They all shuddered and shivered as her piercing eyes roved over them, her psychic power gleaning bits of knowledge from each of their tiny minds. They were so tiny and innocent she thought. Like cherries waiting to be crushed between her teeth.

"Oh I see. They do know what their daddies and mommies are doing. They know and love you for it. They praise you for it. How very sweet and very smart of them all. It's touching."

Then the thoughts of Gao filled the minds of the rebels. All laced with pungent fear and acrid hate, all so very potent like bright colors and strong odors. But most importantly they came with addresses.

"Thank you," Azula bowed and took off out of the town running faster than any creature could ever possibly run.

She moved so fast that she was gone in an instant leaving nothing more than swirls of wind and dust that sparked with slight discharges of static that made their hairs stand on end.

"Well that was interesting," June sourly noted as she coughed up dust then yelped when static shot through her finger and into Nyla.

"Azula! Wait! Where are you going Azula!?" Ty Lee screamed and ran after her friend but she had quite literally left the acrobat in her dust.

Although shaken by Azula's demonstration of mind reading the rebels were quick to recover and turn their attention to the remaining two bewildered women. Though rather than attack they simply talked the fight having literally been talked out of them with shame by Azula.

"Everything Azula said was true wasn't it?" Ty Lee questioned sympathy written all over her face.

"Yeah," Jet replied as he slumped against a wall and sat down suddenly feeling exhausted. "How did she do that. It was creepy. Not that creepy is anything new for her but man that felt so wrong."

"Azula can do that sometimes but I think it has something to do with her new powers. Lightningbending or something."

"I see."

The children eventually started leaving their houses to check up on their leader gravely concerned for his mental well-being. Eventually he politely asked them to leave and jumped onto an ostrich-horse they kept in a stable.

"Where are you going?" Smellerbee asked.

"I'm going after her," Jet announced.

"What! Why?!"

"Don't get me wrong. If she sets them off they'll come after us. I'm going to stop her before she does something stupid."

Inwardly his friends sighed in relief.

"Then we're coming with you!" Smellerbee yelled and everyone else mounted the remaining ostrich-horses two persons an animal.

"Guess we're following them huh?" June asked Ty Lee.

"Guess so."

June jumped onto Nyla while Ty Lee mounted Inazuma and the entire group took to the woods in pursuit of the wayward lightning princess all for completely different reasons.

They trekked across the countryside for hours following the trail of gouged earth and destroyed vegetation galvanized by the lightningbender as she moved at blinding speeds towards only spirits knew where. Eventually they rose over a hill and stepped into an open area overlooking a large and rich looking town of white rock and green-gold roofing.

Well white and green except for all the large smoldering craters, burning buildings and smears of red that were clearly dismembered bodies.

"Guess she doesn't need our help," June smirked sadistically.

* * *

When Azula had arrived after running and leaping over trees (those she didn't knock down of course) with even more speed and grace than an airbender she found the town to be a delightfully depressing place filled with the downtrodden and abused. Although smartly maintained for appearances' sake the people here were impoverished and well abused by their lord who lived in a huge castle at the edge of town surrounded by a great wall. What was with these earthbenders and walls Azula wondered to herself.

Azula smiled at their suffering then denounced the lord responsible. Only a fool abuses his own people, while extremely sadistic Azula was smart enough to know where and when to apply her cruelty. She only used it when she knew she could get away with it or when she knew it was useful not at a whim, that showed no self-control. Like when traumatizing an enemy or when disciplining soldiers which in the long run made her the most successful warlord in the Fire Nation even exceeding her uncle who lost many of his own including his own son in the war where she had lost none.

Now a beauty of her calibre was certainly a head-turner but while teenage boys tended to avoid her for fear of getting tied up and whipped older men had less such reservations on the account of having that much less common sense. Needless to say with a lot of abusive guards wandering around Azula only had to walk twenty feet into the city and already someone was hitting on her.

"Can I help you?" began a guard in a sleazy tone as his mates looked and whistled encouragement.

"Yes, I would like to talk to your lord **now**!" she demanded.

Predictably the guards chuckled to themselves.

"Maybe you'd like to spend time with us," he offered and then she broke his neck clean around to keep herself from throwing up from his thoughts.

Moments later after getting over a brief period of shock the remaining guards charged at her with their halberds before she electrocuted them to death.

"Oh good. I was beginning to get bored."

Archers appeared shooting off arrows Azula simply batted aside with her metalbending rolling her hands in circle to send them away before jabbing her fists in rapid fire succession shooting forks of lightning that charred scores of enemies at a time. It wasn't long before the earthbenders arrived to hurl blocks of stone from the pavings at her as deadly bone-shattering projectiles.

She destroyed the incoming rocks with circular swings of her open hands and legs creating multiple small arcs of electricity that jumped into the rocks causing them to explode into dust. When there was a moment of respite she quickly spun into a series of spinning kicks sending forth balls of lightning from her feet that raced to scores of soldiers and earthbenders and exploded with catastrophic power sending bodies flying and destroying sections of building in the process.

The numbers of soldiers began to intensify until whole phalanxes of spear wielding soldiers came at her as earthbenders attempted to rain down rocks on the lone lightningbender who simply shattered them all with bursts of sound from each fist and foot.

Seeing as how the sky was partly cloudy Azula decided it was time to use some heavier firepower and delivered a swift lightning bolt that cut down from the sky and grounded itself in middle of a group of earthbenders. There was a blinding flash of light followed by a clap of explosive thunder then ignited bodies were sent flying fifty feet into the air to crash down into buildings and solid ground.

A stray arc bounced through one of the soldiers and sped down a road where it smacked into a cart full of cabbages blowing it to pieces. Almost immediately the owner screamed out:

"My cabbages!!" in abject horror.

She called down more bolts of lightning with each knife-hand killing scores of enemies until some warriors hiding the houses around her leaped out weapons pointed forward intent on skewering her from all sides.

Before the spears could connect with her Azula quickly drove her fist downwards into the pavement as though smashing a pile of bricks calling down a massive thunderbolt to her which did her no harm but exploded out from her body in deadly tendrils of energy that fried everyone around her and sent them flying.

Her enemies were retreating fast but they slowed her down enough for her friends to finally catch up with her. Jet and his rebels, Ty Lee and June walked cautiously through the rows of burnt and charred bodies stunned by the scale of destruction of people and property all around them. All had seen the devastation benders could perform but this display of power was clearly that of a master and beyond.

But what disturbed them most especially Ty Lee who could see auras was the fact that Azula did not have so much as a fleck of dirt on her nor was her heartbeat moving any faster than a woman asleep. She was calm, completely empty and detached as though all the killing and destroying meant about as much to her as breathing or blinking.

The Earth soldiers retreated back to the walls of the castle but the metal gates strictly designed to resist earthbenders were closed shut. Azula had killed a good few hundred of them giving the soldiers a lot of good reasons to weep and cry and beg to be let in as they banged the door for salvation. But the callous lord watching from the top of the gate easily dismissed them. Even the soldiers on the other side of the gate were shaking in their boots at the thought of facing Azula. A fear that intensified when all the screaming was silenced by a loud thump that left a huge dent in the door visible even from the other side.

The lord who called himself Gao looked down and sneered at the lightning princess. Azula in turn tilted her head to give him a cocky grin before waving to him disdainfully which made him absolutely furious.

"Men! Get down there and kill that wench!" he roared.

The earthbenders looked fearfully to Azula then to their lord pleading with their eyes not to face the lightning master.

"What are you waiting for!? Attack!"

"But! But my lord-"

"Do it! I am your master. You will do as I say!"

"Why don't you push him down?" Azula interrupted by yelling up the wall. "Think about it, you wouldn't have to deal with his nonsense anymore. You'd be able to live as free men and I won't have to kill you. In fact I will not kill you if you do."

"Hah you can't possibly believe the lies of this lightning wench can you?!" Gao glanced nervously to the men at his sides looking for reassurance.

But his fear was only intensified when all he saw were stares of cold fear and darting eyes of panicked scheming.

"No," the lord whispered and tried to attack his own men before they could attack him.

But he was too late. They bent the stone beneath his feet and threw him off the wall where he fell and fell far. However even a fall that far was nothing to an earthbender if he landed on his feet. And land on his feet he did sending a wave of dirt and tiles Azula easily hopped over.

"Traitors!" he screamed back up the wall to his men. "If you think this will change anything-"

Faster than he could blink Azula wrapped a hand around his throat, tearing him off his feet and slamming his back against the damaged and bloodstained gate nearly crushing his windpipe.

"Please shut up," Azula asked before she pumped a million volts of electricity through Gao's body. Everyone watched in abject horror as his body twitched violently and cooked like roasting meat as Azula drew out his torture slowly killing him for the fun of it. Grinning like a maniac she savored every moment of his agony before he finally stopped screaming.

He was finally dead but his charred corpse continued to burn and twitch causing a lot of the soldiers who witnessed it to vomit. Finally done with him Azula cast aside the body and took a few steps back so the remaining soldiers on the walls could see her.

"Now you lot come down here and open these gates."

Obediently the soldiers opened the gate and filed out. Using her magnetic metalbending she divested the non-benders of their weapons and chained the earthbenders to keep them from bending. The weapons she stuck into the stones behind her upright and in neat rows as the villagers finally ventured out to bear witness to their liberation.

It didn't take Azula long to notice the enlarging crowds and she smiled to herself in anticipation of what she was going to do next.

"Of course I will not kill you as promised but that doesn't stop them from doing so," she jerked her thumb back at the rows of weapons she stuck into the stone within easy reach of all the oppressed and angry villagers. "Well," she encouraged the villagers with a warm smile.

There was only a moment of trepidation than the villagers vented the years of abuse and hardship and cruelty suffered at the hands of their lord and his lackeys. Taking up their former tormentors' arms they charged at the remaining soldiers and cut them down like animals. Even after their deaths the villagers didn't relent and continued hacking at the bodies both silently and loudly thanking their liberator for her gift.

"I love how that never gets old," Azula laughed and brushed a lose strand of her from her eyes.

* * *

Author's Notes: The last chapter was an interlude, basically a flashback that takes place in the past. I find it easier to follow if I categorize it like that. Anyway the purpose of this fic is more to develop and weaponize her insanity rather than most fics that either ignore it with her as a villain (along with every other bit of her trademark awesomeness turning her from a genuine threat to a laughable moron much to my disgust) or remove it with her as a purity sue. Or just make her go feral rather than refined. Hence lots of famous psychos are going into the mindblender.

Azu-Nya is a K-ON! joke for those who watch anime. Anyway the joke goes there's this girl name Azusa (yeah really close huh) whom a lot of characters called Azu-Nya which is something like Kitty Azusa. Get it Tigerhawk? Kitty Azula? Nevermind.

Red Songbird is my Avatar universe stand in for a Red Sonja. Look it up on tvtropes to see the hint. Basically a Red Sonja is a tough female character who wants an even tougher love interest, Azula likes tough men but she also like's people who can or have beaten her where she was not trying to trick them by losing. Here's a hint two girls and only two girls have done it thus far. I'm probably taking the romance a little fast but I'm not good with long-drawn out romances and this is an adventure fic.

June's name is spelt June in the credits. A lot of people called her Jun because that's a real Japanese name but I'm going with June.


	6. Blast from the Past

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 05: Blast from the Past.

_"You cannot slander human nature; it is worse than words can paint it." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

* * *

_

Azula always found it amazing how quickly a monster could become a saint. How easily a villain could become a hero. Not a few hours ago her footsteps alone made these children and all these adults quake in fear of her presence. But just get rid of one little decadent noble and suddenly she was the quirky member of the family everyone loved the most.

Azula tore down the great metal gates of castle beyond its walls by simply dragging the invisible energy strands of her bending and let the villagers loot to their hearts delight. Even Jet and his freedom fighters got their share of gold to use on their own while June got an extra bonus that she was more than happy to receive.

"I knew I was right to right to like you," the bounty hunter complimented.

"Take all you want. My journey doesn't require too much," Azula encouraged to the cheers and thanks of everyone around.

"Why are you being so generous?" Inazuma asked over telepathy clearly aware that the princess was not doing this out of the goodness of her heart.

"Isn't it obvious? The soul is an infinitely precious thing to the one who owns it but if you're a smart merchant you can buy it for as little as a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread or sell it for a kingdom. By giving these people this wealth and freedom they will follow me without question. Say hello to the first people who will live in the empire I will build."

"Isn't that a bit premature?"

"Maybe. But I think it's never too early to start securing citizens."

After that much celebration ensued. There was plenty to be happy about, so much so that little details like the amount blood spilled to accomplish it was easily overlooked. But that was hardly surprising to the princess of lightning. She had seen it happen a hundred times before and she knew she'd see it a hundred times again. Even the bloodstained victories of the Avatars past and the one present were no different.

Everyone was celebrating except for Ty Lee who had been in a somber mood every since she had witnessed all those horrors committed by someone she was dead set on reforming.

"Why so sad Ty Lee? Here this necklace would look nice on you," Azula offered a beautiful gold and ruby necklace like a kind lover as a gift.

Her reasons of course were less than noble but merely a ploy to get Ty Lee into bed with her again among other things. Azula hated dealing with angst-ridden people yet more often than she liked those were the kind of people she gravitated to. Rather than accept the gift however Ty Lee spun around and struck it from the hand of the lightningbender with tears streaming down her cheeks as she did.

"Why did you do that?!" she demanded to know.

"Why did I do what?" Azula asked pretending to be genuinely puzzled.

"Those soldiers. They surrendered why did you have to kill them!!?" she screamed so loud that she was beginning to draw some suspicious stares.

"Oh Ty Lee," Azula shook her head like she was hearing something cute and innocent from a young child. "I didn't kill them. They did," she then pointed to the crowds of happy people strolling the streets and carrying the loot they had taken from Gao's castle.

"You made them do it!!"

"No I didn't. Ty Lee you should understand that there's a huge difference between made and let. I **let** them kill those soldiers. They wanted to kill those soldiers but otherwise couldn't until I **let** them. That's the difference. The big difference."

"But you could have stopped them!"

"Should I have?"

"Of course. All people deserve to live!"

Sighing to herself from a degree of genuine exasperation Azula pressed her icy fingers into Ty Lee's temples once more sending to her the images she dug up from minds of the dead soldiers and their lord. Again the experience bewildered, shocked, exhausted and devastated the acrobat all at once, showing her harsh truths she coped with using boundless optimism and a constant ability to see the silver lining in every black cloud. An ironic choice of words when Ty Lee thought about it considering she was talking about a lightningbender who drew her power from the clouds.

"Now tell me do people like that deserve to live? If I let them go they wouldn't change," Azula pointed out.

"They might have!" Ty Lee protested clutching her head from the dull ache.

"People don't change Ty Lee they just discover who they are. These people knew who they were. They were monsters and they had to be put down. Ty Lee I'm sorry you had to see this, when I brought you with me on my hunt for the Avatar I always avoided places where you'd have to see these kind of things because I knew you wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Y-you did?!" the acrobat felt genuinely bewildered yet warmly touched by the princess's apparent empathy.

"Yes I did. You can be pretty vicious girl but I know you're adverse to such gore; even Mai always aims for people's clothes. But I can't protect you anymore you're just going to have to accept this part of me and this aspect of the world. What I do is necessary and I accept that burden. Do you understand?"

"I…I do. And I'm sorry," Ty Lee hugged her friend to offer her some sympathy.

Azula of course returned the hug secretly smiling to herself for while there was some truth in her words the princess had neither remorse nor conscience and such acts of killing were while for the greater good of no moral or emotional consequence to the psychopathic princess. Such was the beauty of her delicious personality disorder.

A full day of rampant celebration passed before the group finally decided to leave. Azula left explicit instructions that spread throughout the town to keep her presence here a secret. No people had left to trade or spread rumors of course Azula had seen to that with honey coated encouragements of celebration. Even the most ardent gossip queens were coaxed into staying and keeping quiet. She lied by saying that she had enemies that would harm them if they knew of her involvement and needless to say they were more than eager to obey that order of hers.

When they got back to Jet's orphanage town even the kids back in Gaipan greeted her like a conquering hero after she brought great gifts of money and supplies along with the guarantee that Gao would never bother them again.

Now Ty Lee loved kids, in the circus they were always her favorite spectators. June was indifferent on the matter; she tended not to judge people by age but rather by attitude and experience and so she got along with the kids as well as any sensible adult might. It was one of the reasons she found Azula's brother annoying because he was very immature despite his age and so much fun to tease. Iroh at least had been eccentric but well-mannered while his niece she liked because she was similar to herself in many respects. Especially in being punctual and June liked punctual.

As things would have it Azula was busy drinking tea and studying maps with one leg crossed over the other like she was reading a newspaper when Jet of all people decided to join her. At first there was only silence while the patient lightningbender waited for the older boy to say what he wanted to say. She had little interest in pleasant conversations and the former freedom fighter was having difficulty with the girl who was once upon a time one of his greatest enemies and savior on two separate occasions. Needless to say the situation was awkward.

"I heard a rumor that you had been locked away and that Lee…I mean Zuko had become Fire Lord," Jet nervously began.

"The rumor is true," Azula replied not even averting her gaze from the news scrolls in her hand while she drank tea with the other.

"I see. So what are you doing out here?"

"Let's just say that the Throne of Fire no longer interests me nor has it ever. Instead there's an even greater empire I intend to build and rule over."

"I…see."

"Tell you what since I'm feeling generous when I'm done your over-extended family can come live with me. You'd be safe and well cared for and I'm sure we could educate them into happy productive members of society. Assuming you're even interested?"

Jet wasn't sure what to say so he simply scowled. Jet was used to being the man in charge, the one suave and charming bad boy who talked loud and punched even louder. But he found that the predatory vamp that was Princess Azula stumped him. She was beautiful, terrifying and inspiring all at once. It was nothing like Smellerbee who was just boyish and insecure but reserved to cover it up or Katara who was very girlish and also insecure but bad-tempered and violent to cover it up. Even Toph for however long that he had known her was boyish, insecure and acted cocky to cover it up. This woman however was confident, predatory and extremely dangerous and did nothing to cover that up and while he admitted he found her incredibly attractive he was at a complete lose as how to handle her.

So in the end he just used blunt honesty like he would when addressing an equal. In other words he imagined she was a man not a woman. Picking up on the thought Azula nearly choked on her tea and sprayed it out against a wall shattering it with sonic force in the process.

They both just stared at the perfectly cut circular hole with puzzled expressions on their faces blinking stupidly for a few seconds before Jet finally said what he wanted to say.

"I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"You said to me back in Ba Sing Se that from order breeds control and from that we can find comfort. You were right. I had no control here and we suffered because of it. Because I wasn't strong enough. That's why I want you."

"Huh?" Azula opened her mouth in a suggestive smile.

Jet blushed madly when he realized what he just said.

"I-I mean I want to learn from you! I want to help you build this empire if it'll keep my friends safe."

"Really?"

"Yes. Besides I still owe you, not just for reviving me back in Ba Sing Se but for this as well. And besides if your journey is as filled with good deeds like today then count me in."

Azula couldn't help but smile sinisterly at him.

"Making up for past mistakes eh?"

"…Yes. I don't expect people to forgive me but I have to try."

"I see. What about you June? Are you coming?"

Azula cast a glance out of the corner of her to an open window where June was leaning next to listening in on their interesting conversation.

"Well if there's as much gold involved for every town we visit count me in to," she replied as she counted the huge quantities of wealth the lightningbender had afforded her.

"So can I take that as a yes? If you get paid handsomely," Azula elaborated as the bounty hunter entered with a sack of gold in hand.

"Well obviously. I haven't gotten paid this much since…well ever actually."

Azula chuckled at the turn out of things. The intentional poetic irony appearing before her eyes was clear to someone as perceptive as her and she was deriving a great degree of amusement from it.

"Well then it seems as though I have a new little family again. You should know that once a lifetime ago my closest companions consisted of an ever peppy, cute and optimistic acrobatic, a darkly beautiful, Gothic and emotionally detached warrior named after a month of the year and a brooding emotionally and physically scarred but handsome lad who unerringly pursued power for honor and redemption and spent his days in constant self-inflicted misery."

"I lost that but now I have new companions who consist of an ever peppy, cute and optimistic acrobatic, a darkly beautiful, Gothic and emotionally detached warrior named after a month of the year and a brooding, emotionally and physically scarred but handsome lad who unerringly pursues power for honor and redemption and spends his days in constant self-inflicted misery."

From this alone Azula was certain that fate had a sense of humor and she shared in the silent joke with her own dark laughter. Both June and Jet found it unnerving but then again they had both seen their fair share of weirdos and weren't fazed. Much.

Then Ty Lee appeared covered in flowers given to her by the kids.

"Yai! We're all one big happy family!" Ty Lee squealed and grabbed them all around their necks and hugged them tight.

"I can tell we're all going to get along like fire hoses," Azula then colorfully added.

"Like…fire hoses?" Jet shot her a confused expression.

"Yup, when we get turned on there's bound to be flames."

Suddenly Jet was beginning to regret his decision to travel with the former princess of the Fire Nation.

* * *

Their stay in Gaipan lasted for a couple days while Jet sorted out his affairs and Azula made plans and preparations for the future. A future involving a large one and a half ton shirshu that obviously couldn't fly.

The teary goodbyes and promises of return were long and drawn out to say the least. Azula ended up drowning out the exchanges by busying herself with packing for the trip. In the past she'd have servants do it for her but over the years she had found that there was a simple satisfaction to be had with doing one's own chores. Plus there was that manic episode she had which granted her a certain need for self-sufficiency.

The kids were also saying goodbye to 'Big Sister' June and 'Funny' Ty Lee as well who handled it in her own way. As for Azula she was having great difficulty trying to pry snotty nose brats from Inazuma and Nyla's fur, neither of whom seemed particularly bothered by it.

"Oh come on Azula. I find it enjoyable to have children fawn over me," Inazuma explained.

"And if I find a small child in one of the packs when we're ten thousand feet up and 500 miles away?"

"…Good point."

Azula had become a kind of hero the kids looked up to (well a different and darker kind to Jet) after defeating the 'mean Gao' but being naturally more intimidating than a giant hungry sea serpent yet exceptional pragmatic and well disciplined resulted in them looking at her like some kind of strict mother with a rolling pin opposite to Jet's happy daddy look. Of course Azula had no real opinion on the matter; she like to hurt, lie to and cheat all people equally and if she hurt little kids like saying by knocking down their sand castle it was only because they were in the way nothing more and nothing personal.

To that end Azula treated these kids like a strict mother reprimanding them sternly for little misdeeds whenever they got in her way and complimenting them for little moments of aid and brilliance. When she realized that her maternal instincts had kicked in she went into the forest and killed a wild boarcupine with her bare hands to vent her annoyance. She appeared later with bandages around her hands.

"What happened?" Ty Lee asked out of concern.

"Boarcupines," was all a very embarrassed looking Azula said while June and Ty Lee giggled.

Eventually after literally hours of teary goodbyes June, Jet and Ty Lee went to the outer boundaries of the town by the river and found Azula securing a rather strange looking harness that connected Nyla to Inazuma via some very strong and thick looking leather straps.

"What did you attach to Nyla?" June asked concern for her shirshu safety written all over her face but she had an idea of what Azula was trying to do.

"Air-lift harness. Your shirshu can't keep up with my Tigerhawk so we'll all flying together," Azula explained casually causing all of her companions to just stare at her like she had grown an extra head. "What? It'll work."

All three of her companions then turned to the Tigerhawk for support.

"She talked me into it," Inazuma replied and everyone just frowned at her. "Hey I don't like this any less than you! I have to carry this overweight flea-bitten razor mole!"

"He is not overweight or flea-bitten!" protested the bounty hunter.

Despite their feelings of apprehension Azula's crew eventually jumped onto the rather large saddle that could comfortably hold them all. Though not as big or as a permissive in its freedom of movement as Appa's saddle it served its purpose. Grabbing the reins Azula kicked the sides of her Tigerhawk.

"Let's go," she ordered and Inazuma leaped into the air flapping hard against the wind and the earth's magnetic field.

With a loud grunt followed by a high pitched wail from Nyla they took to the air carrying the huge weight of the shirshu. Fortunately for all concerned Inazuma was strong, really strong thanks to the lightning running through her body and she flew with the weight relatively easily. Of course Nyla never stop hissing until finally June dexterously jumped down into his saddle and calmed him down before he paralyzed someone.

Even with the new information and companions she had gathered Azula's original course of action remained the same, travel north then east to Ba Sing Se. She had taken into account that too far north and she'd run into the Northern Water Tribe Navy so her trip eventually took her to the northern mountains that once belonged to the Air Nomads.

There were few Earth towns here and all at the bottom of the range so flying through it gave her a distinct advantage of stealth. Eventually they stopped off at the southern edge of the mountain range she planned on making a part of her thunderous kingdom. Nyla was more than a little glad to be on solid ground again while Ty Lee was just happy to be able to dance and cartwheel around again.

June remained indifferent as did Jet though both found the experience of flight to be very memorable and looked forward to more of it. Azula gave orders to make camp and everyone just fell in line, later on Jet and June would realize with amazement at how charismatic Azula was to make them so quickly follow her beck and call so quickly.

Azula had gone fishing (with lightning!) while Ty Lee had gone to collect fruits and plants (with lightning! Until she asked Inazuma to stay put). June was setting up camp (with lightning! Until she asked Inazuma to stop metalbending her equipment after an accidental case of electrocution) while Jet was collecting firewood. Which Azula planned on lighting with even more lightning.

On the way there Azula had explained to Jet that she couldn't firebend anymore much to his relief. Instead she had gained the power to bend lightning the same kind of power she used to resurrect him from the dead. No while fire scared and enraged him lightning he wasn't really sure about. It didn't seem like fire and most would agree with him on the matter.

It was then that he heard it, sounds he knew and would never forget not until the day he died. First there were loud grunting noises followed by heavy footsteps. No they were the thump and rumble of komodo rhinos and before he knew it he was surrounded by five such rhinos carrying five heavy set individuals he'd never ever dare forget.

The first one their leader was a man with a feather top hairstyle, nose-rings and earrings and a funny mustache and goatee, the other an archer with the face-paint of the elite Yu Yan Archers. Then came a dark-skinned man wielding a ball and chain flanked by a man in completely concealing black armor and another heavily bearded man with a huge guan dao or Chinese halberd in hand.

These were the men who had killed his family and burned down his village. His jaw dropped open and he dropped the kindling he was carrying and just stood there like a deer in the headlights. Caught between paralyzing rage and paralyzing fear he found that he couldn't move a muscle. His mind was telling him to run or fight but his body just wasn't listening.

"Well what do we have here?" began Colonel Mongke. "I know you. You're the rebel Jet!"

All of the Rough Rhinos began circling him like buzzard-wasps cutting off all possible escape routes as they drew their weapons. Finally Jet unsheathed his hook swords and ready himself for combat.

"Finally," Jet breathed in exhilaration savoring the thought of finally being able to avenge his family.

A look of excited mania crossed his features, a look that would unnerve the average but only serve to excite the seasoned veterans that were the Rough Rhinos.

"Finally indeed," laughed Mongke. "We can collect that bounty on your head from that Fire colony noble. Rough Rhinos attack!"

Flaming arrows and bolts of fire erupted at him but he managed to dive away from the blasts and hacked apart those arrows with his twin swords. Then the halberd wielder was on him hacking and slashing from his mount but Jet parried all his blows and made a swipe for his legs but he shifted his body causing his rhino to spin around and tail whip Jet. The strike sent him flying until he hit a tree knocking the wind out of him but he moved a split second later as arrows embedded themselves in the bark of the tree.

A huge set of iron balls on a chain came flying at him but bashed them both aside but the impact was so powerful it made his swords rattle in his hands. Jet jumped high over the follow up swing before those chains took out his legs and tried to bring the cruel hooks of his swords down on the head of the dark-skinned chain wielder but the halberd master came to his defense and blocked the attack before pushing the young freedom fighter away.

Mongke was on him in a heartbeat sending forth a constant flamethrower stream of scorching heat at the teen. He had no way of blocking it and so dodged as swiftly as he could. He ran around the stream of flames that followed him and made an attempt to flank the Colonel. It would have worked but before he could get within striking distance a small cylindrical object appeared in his field of vision.

At the corner of his eye he saw the bomb thrown by the most heavily armored member of the rhinos and on instinct he jumped back as hard as he could and brought his swords up to the defend himself. The blast was as blinding as it was deafening. The shockwave scorched over him charring off bits of hair and clothing and sent him crashing through the underbrush.

He skidded for several meters before stopping in the dirt, his ears were ringing and the world seem to spin around him. Adrenaline still pumped through his veins forcing him to get to his feet but then a jarring pain shot through his leg. Looking down he realized that there was a huge shrapnel gash along his thigh that sent lances of hot pain up his body every time he tried to move it.

The worst part he realized a second later when he looked to his hands was that his weapons were destroyed. His trusty hook swords had both been shattered by the explosion. But that didn't stop him from fighting on, Jet was not a man to give up even in the face of death. He had faced death before and fought to the end. This would be no different.

He waited for someone to attack him and when Mongke burst through the vegetation he tried to throw the hilt-dagger ends of his weapons at him but as he drew his hands over his head a chain and ball shot out binding his hands before pulling him across the grass and onto a hard gravel road. The rhino dragged him a short distance before finally it's rider threw him at a tree which he impacted with bone jarring force. No sooner could he fall to his face that arrows shot out and pinned his clothes to it effectively immobilizing him.

Jet had known fear all his life but real terror; the absolute feeling of petrifying helplessness where he knew there was nothing he could do but watch the inevitable come. He only knew it once in his life and that was when his parents had been killed by the very same people who were about to kill him.

Mongke charged at the incapacitated boy with his fist drawn back and flaming ready to deliver a painful death. Jet just scrunched up his eyes and waited for the end but it didn't come.

There was a crack like that from a whip and a red barbed tongue darted out and struck the flesh of the firebender's neck paralyzing him with its toxins causing him to slump down against his saddle as his rhino continued to charge pass Jet and off into the forest. It took no heed of its rider after that letting his face get whipped by all manner of vegetation, insects and small furry animals.

Jet cracked open his eyes to see June on her shirshu taking the fight to his enemies who reared up on their animals ready to face the new challenge. Then Ty Lee burst from the canopy and delivered a series of swift jabs that downed the armored bomber before kicking away the lit bomb in his hand high into the air. It exploded with great force getting soot and dust in the girl's hair making her scream in complaint.

"My hair!! Don't you know bombs are dangerous!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs then cart wheeled away as arrows streamed through the air where she had been standing.

With a crack of her whip June snatched away the archers bow before Ty Lee jumped up behind him and paralyzed him with several blows to the back, flipped over his head and landed in front of his mount in order to dangle a piece of meat in front of his rhino.

"Here boy! Here boy!" she whistled and encouraged and it danced to her tune jumping about excitedly like a hungry pet before she threw the piece of meat into the face of the halberd wielder. "Fetch!" she yelled the rhino ran after the treat.

The bearded halberd wielder had about point one of a second to stare in horror at the multi-ton Komodo rhino bearing down on him before he and his own rhino were tackled hard sending them into a bone crunching roll down a steep hill that made Ty Lee grimace in sympathy.

The only Rough Rhino left now was the dark-skinned chain wielder who just looked around for his companions bewildered by how easily they had been dispatched. Then June appeared on her shirshu by his side like a phantom.

"Boo!" she scared and he screamed like a little girl and rode his rhino right in a panic down the hill where they tumbled like boulders far down into the river below to join the other two.

Ty Lee cringed at the sight and hoped he and his animal would have a safe landing. June cracked her whip at the last remaining rhino the armored bomber rode on and sent it crashing through the forest to whatever destination it ended up choosing.

"Wow, talk about a bad day kid," June joked after she took in the horrid state of her lone male traveling companion.

"Jet! You okay," Ty Lee then turned her concern to the prone form of the former freedom fighter still pinned to the tree by several arrows.

She broke the arrows and pulled him off but as he fell but he went limp like he was catatonic.

"Are you alright," she frantically asked deeply worried by the dim light of his aura.

"I-I'm fine," he whispered suddenly feeling absolutely exhausted.

Ty Lee then noticed the bleeding wound of his leg and gasped in horror.

"We have to get back to camp and treat that!"

"Come on then. Get on Nyla and let's head back," June ordered.

Nodding in reply Ty Lee picked up Jet and slung him on Nyla's saddle before jumping on herself. With a kick and a command June sped her shirshu through the woods and headed straight back for Inazuma and the medical supplies Azula brought with them.

By the time they got back Azula had already returned with a huge set of partly charred fish she had electrocuted. She looked at the returning group especially Jet dispassionately like the idea of him injured and possibly dying was nothing to be at all worried about.

"I leave for ten minutes and already you guys get yourselves into trouble," she sighed.

"Azula!" Ty Lee scolded the princess for being so cold.

"Come on, let me see him," she beckoned and put down her fish to retrieve the medical kit from Inazuma's saddle bags.

Ty Lee and June helped set Jet down on a sleeping bag Azula pulled out. He grunted and groaned from the pain the whole time but did his best not to fidget or complain.

"Ty Lee paralyze him please. It'll make things easier."

"Uh ok."

Complying with her order she pinched his neck making him lose all feeling to his lower body.

"I can't feel my legs," he commented with some horror.

"Good then you won't feel this," she yanked out a piece of metal shrapnel wetly from the wound of his leg.

"Feel what?" Jet asked having completely missed that action.

"Azula just pulled out like a huge piece of metal from your leg," Ty Lee gestured with hands to exaggerate the size of the shrapnel piece.

"Be grateful Ty Lee and her pressure point skills are here," Azula pointed out.

"Right. Thanks Ty Lee," Jet gratefully thanked his companion.

"Hey! What about me?" June asked as she passed surgical tools to her employer.

"Oh right. Thanks June."

Azula continued to remove pieces of shrapnel from the boy's body before disinfecting and cleaning the wounds. She silently wished she still had her firebending which while a lot less deadly could at least cauterize these wounds without killing the patient. Now she had to rely on alcohol and foul smelling medicines. She dared not use lightning for that would electrocute him at the same time.

"Wow, you're really going to need some major surgery for this," Azula said in mock seriousness.

"Is it that bad?" Jet asked unable to see his leg while paralyzed nor able to sense Azula's masterful sarcasm.

"Oh your leg's fine. I was talking about your face," the princess joked.

Only June laughed, well only June and Azula. It took hours of work to stitch his leg back up and at the end of it Ty Lee suddenly felt like going vegan.

"Who were those muscly men Azula?" Ty Lee asked.

"They're an elite group of heavy cavalry known for their terrorizing methods called the Rough Rhinos. I heard that they're wanted for war crimes."

"They deserters or something?" June added.

"After Zuko yes, before no. They have a reputation for burning villages and killing civilians so of course Zuko wants them gone. Bad for public relations and all. And from the vibes I'm getting from Jet here he knows them. Care to share?"

Jet remained silent for a long while, dragging up the memories was painful to say the least.

"Come on Jet. Talk to us. Maybe we can help?" Ty Lee kindly offered.

"Yeah, besides you owe us an explanation after we saved your butt," June less empathically added.

"…They killed my parents and burned down my village," was all Jet said before he rolled over and tried to get some sleep.

"What happened to the Rough Rhinos?" Azula asked as she considered what would need to be done about the men who had just tried to kill one of her traveling companions.

"We kicked their butt then sent them packing!" Ty Lee explained proudly.

"I see."

Obviously the two of them hadn't killed them, June was a lot rougher than Ty Lee by far but it seemed even she preferred bounties alive than dead. It was annoying because now it meant that those rhino riders would probably come back for revenge at a later date but there was nothing Azula could do about that for now so she relaxed and decided that waiting things out was the best thing to do.

After a sober dinner they all went to sleep, all except Azula who called first watch. Inazuma and Nyla had also dozed off. Her sense of paranoia had not completely left her and even now she was sure that someone was out there gunning for her. Which she knew was true of most people even those so called good guys the Avatar and his team had made their fair share of enemies still withstanding.

She was dragged out of her personal musings however by Jet as he awoke in the middle of the night after a short and fitful rest.

"Well now welcome back," she greeted. "Did you sleep well?" she asked sarcastically knowing already that he had not.

He tossed and turned in his sleep and projected his nightmares to the mindbender more vividly than any painter ever could. She saw in his mind as he dreamed the scene of his family and his village being burned to ash by the Rough Rhinos and Azula couldn't help but smirk sadistically at the carnage she so enjoyed.

Jet said nothing for the longest of times, he simply limped over to where Azula was sitting on a rock looking into the darkness and sat himself down against a log. Silently he brooded like her brother tended to. What was with young men and brooding she wondered and what was it that women found so attractive about it? She certainly didn't enjoy it. She preferred strong and determined men, men like her father. Sadly she had yet to meet such a man.

"I need to be stronger Azula," Jet said finally.

"I swear you sound like my brother."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Don't because it wasn't," she spat in disgust at the thoughts of her hated brother. "So what are you going to do?"

"Teach me lightningbending!" Jet then demanded.

And for the first time since Mai and Ty Lee had betrayed the princess was she honestly surprised.

* * *

Author's Note: The pairing vote is now closed thanks to everyone for voting, Tyzula won by a long margin, Jetzula came in 2nd even with additional votes done by reviewers without logins and Both came in last. I'm actually surprised by how many people insisted against Tyzula I haven't seen this with other slash fics I've the read reviews for. And I wish people would stop telling me it's not canon, Of course it's not canon! A kid's show can't include slash and when it comes to Azula it's either Chan, OCs or crack and I hate OCs. Just to clarify something this fic fits in the heroic sociopath/villain protagonist mold. Think Death Note situation, you're not actually suppose to root for Azula but stuff happens when she's the protagonist. Thus certain Sues are unavoidable and hardly that far out of character for some.

Originally I wasn't planning on using Jet but the Dai Li captain after Aang stripped him of his earthbending you know that Dai Li that keeps reporting to Long Feng, Azula would give him lightningbending instead but I ended up using Jet because I don't want to create OCs even unnamed Cs are too OC for my taste. Quite frankly I hate most OCs especially the ones that outdo and defeat the establish the characters.

The firehose innuendo comes a character named Jeanette a vampire in a video game called Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines. She's this sexy vamp voiced by Grey Delisle Azula's voice actress. Look it up on youtube.


	7. Lightningbending

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 06: Lightningbending

_"__Don't pray for easy lives, but to be stronger men.__" — John F. Kennedy

* * *

_

"Excuse me?" Azula questioned Jet.

"You heard me. I said I want to learn lightningbending!" Jet repeated this time with more fervor.

He rose to his feet and approached Azula to enhance his point in case the look of determination written on his face wasn't proof enough.

"Surely you can teach people?!" he shouted not caring if he woke June or Ty Lee.

If they heard him they made no sign of it.

"Come to think about it I never thought about that matter," she wanted to create her own kingdom of lightning but when it came right down to it she never thought about the matter of training more lightningbenders.

She much preferred to recruit help not train it.

Azula had a healthy respect for the other elements and even for the lesser peoples like Mai and Ty Lee who while not firebenders were very useful. Well respect wasn't quite the word it was more like she simply didn't underestimate her inferiors. It was very unbecoming of a proud nationalist like her but she had always been sensible above all else (well until her breakdown), something her hot-headed peasant cussing brother tended not to be. It was one of the reasons she had been glad to accept the Dai Li into the fold.

She had been so caught up in the infrastructure and politics of her future kingdom that she had yet to consider the fundamental basis to which it would be built upon. The presence of its own order of benders attuned to elemental lightning. Come to think of it she wasn't even sure how to she was going to train them.

"Bending appears spontaneously depending on one's geographical location Jet. Areas of the world resonant with elemental chi which attunes to those who live there. Hence why all benders originate from regions with abundances of their element," Azula explained then mentally slapped herself for sounding like some wise **old** woman. "In that regard shouldn't you be an earthbender?" Azula asked.

"I…could never earthbend," he admitted shamefully.

"Oh too bad. I was hoping you'd be. How should I say rock hard and upright," Azula gave him a suggestive expression.

"The earthbenders in my village told me that I lacked stability; the basis of earthbending, that I was too wild and undisciplined. They said that to be an earthbender I needed to be steady, patient and meet things head on."

"You missed what I was implying entirely didn't you?" Azula sighed in disappointment.

It took a few seconds for him to register her flirtations and when he did he blushed and politely shuffled away from the princess slightly.

"Honestly you fight like an airbender with the way you're always moving around," she then added before he decided to leave entirely.

"I do?!"

"Yes…which is good. At least you have a foundation to work with."

"Foundation?"

"Yes. At its base bending is just martial arts. You discipline the mind and build the body and from its movements you bend the energy in yourself, your chi and use it to interact with the world around you. In order words the elements. You need to start learning bending or at least martial arts from an early age because you need to develop the mindset for it, the series of movements, the patterns and styles it's like a language really. Best learned while the mind is still developing, once set learning more advanced moves is simpler you're just adding on to the foundation hence it why it never takes as long to learn the advance sets if you have the basics, though most lack the aptitude or discipline to go very far."

"So you're saying I can do it? I can learn lightningbending!" Jet began to sound increasingly hopeful.

"Maybe. The problem is two-fold. Specific benders need the right attitude and the right mind set but they also need to have the right physique and bone structure and most importantly the right amount and potency of chi in order to bend."

"They boy has the chi Azula," Inazuma then announced and sauntered over to the talking pair. "His body is prepared as well; you just need to develop his attitude and mind."

"Oh, well good news Juju you **can **learning lightningbending."

"Juju!?" Jet looked most offended at Azula's new pet name.

"…Hey wait a minute you said that only I had the right to command lightning?!" Azula shot to her feet and ran straight to the Tigerhawk and grabbed her huge head by her sword-like sabertooth fangs.

"You do."

"Then why are you saying he can learn?" she jabbed her forefinger at Jet accusingly. "What did you need me for then?" she demanded to know angrily.

"You had the power by birthright and you could learn it from me because of your talent. If I tried to teach Jet I would fail as I would with any other bender in this world. When learning from an animal you invent the sequences and forms not simply memorize them. I'm a tigerhawk remember," Inazuma joked.

It made Azula give her an annoyed look, the Tigerhawk was starting to sound a little too much like her uncle. Inazuma's explanation left her unsatisfied, Azula's instincts were telling her that there was again something important that the Tigerhawk was leaving out. But Azula needed the creature and there was nothing she could use to pry the truth from her so she let it drop and hoped to find some kind of leverage somehow.

"When the Avatar took away your firebending he removed those spiritual limbs responsible for bending fire but he could not remove those responsible for bending lightning. To put it simply your spirit had two pairs of arms and two pairs of legs and the Avatar just cut off a set."

"You told me this already. You haven't told me why Jet can lightningbend."

"He can because his bending limbs were never developed but are still there. He has the body and spirit just not the mind. Now that you have created the art you can teach it to others who lack the talent to invent as you have but who have the chi and the muscles but not the understanding. At any time all over the world Azula there are thousands of people with the potential to bend but not the understanding on how to attune themselves to an element. Take them to a place that resonates with an element, build their mindset to it and you can teach them anything. Why do you think the Avatar born of any nation can still learn the arts of other nations?"

"Well that makes sense I suppose."

"Before mankind learned to bend the elements they bent the energy in themselves Azula. The art was lost as it was near useless on its own until it evolved into the bending of the elements as men learned from animals and celestial bodies how to attune their chi to the elements that were abundant in their realms. Mankind still bends the energy in themselves subconsciously when they learn each of the bending arts and attune themselves to their elements. Jet will do the same."

"Hmm," Azula's pensive expression slowly cracked into a malicious smile as she thought on the matter.

The idea of more lightningbenders appealed to Azula even though she hated training people but then again why not. If it would make Jet more useful to her so what was a few weeks of extra work to her.

"Alright. I will train you."

* * *

The next morning Jet awoke, actually he was so excited that he couldn't sleep and he swore that neither had Azula yet she didn't look any worse for the wear making him wonder if lightningbenders even needed to sleep.

"We do," Azula answered after picking up his thoughts. "I just need less sleep in general."

"Exactly how much."

"You don't want to know."

Azula was busy saddling up Inazuma when June and Ty Lee woke up to get breakfast. Jet had to admit that he was rather jealous of women who could wake up so gracefully for neither of the two girls looked as messy as he did whenever he woke up in the morning. They still looked messy but he looked down right disastrous. He had obviously never seen Toph in the morning.

"Jet and I are heading into the mountains. There's a storm brewing to the east where I can start teaching him the basics of lightningbending, expect us to take days if not weeks," Azula announced and then jumped onto Inazuma's saddle.

Jet shot her a look for implying that he would take forever to learn.

"You girls hold camp until we get back or if I send Inazuma back asking for help."

"Do you think you would even need it?" June joked.

"Yeah seriously Azula. You're the most awesome fighter of all of us," Ty Lee complimented further.

"Well yes but if Jet breaks a leg or two I'm not fixing them this time," she huffed and then jerked her head in a gesture to call over Jet.

"Come on that storm isn't going to last forever," she ordered.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" he complained and climbed up onto Inazuma's saddle behind Azula.

To hold himself secure he grabbed onto her waist even though the saddle was designed with a harness for him to grip onto to. Force of habit really from riding too many ostrich-horses.

"My breasts are up here," Azula flirted causing Jet to blush brighter than a tomato.

The other two girls giggled and Jet was beginning to wonder if becoming a eunuch was a sensible option when it came to Azula. Anyway the pair plus tigerhawk took to the air and headed for the mountains. It didn't take them long to reach their destination where Inazuma set them down on a mountain at the edge of the storm that was rolling over them.

Biting cold winds and icy rain chilled Jet to the bone and at his discretion he was still wearing his partly charred and tattered clothes. Azula herself was unfazed, the power she felt from the storm energized her and filled her with the invigorating warmth and power of lightning. Even Inazuma seemed noticeably strengthened by the weather and leaped about as it searched for a nice soft spot to rest on while Azula trained Jet.

"Kuwabara. Kuwabara," Azula recited as spears from the heavens rained down around them illuminating the mountain tops.

"What's that?" Jet yelled over the rain and wind.

"It's a charm to protect against lightning. Since we're going to be bending it from the sky I suggest you make it a habit of saying."

"Bah who's afraid of a little lightning."

Just as he said that a massive thunderbolt crashed down right in front of him. Azula felt it coming a mile up and shielded against it but Jet was still blasted far and high into the air and went crashing down the side of the mountain before landing in a grassy precipice a short drop down. His ears were ringing and his eyes were seeing spots but otherwise he wasn't too badly injured apart from some minor bruising. He counted himself lucky that Azula had bent away most of the lightning for him.

He pulled himself up from the wet grass as Azula sailed down on her jet streams of blue plasma laughing loudly after seeing him make an idiot of himself.

"You did that on purpose!" he accused.

"Actually I didn't. Did you see any hand or feet movements?"

Truth be told he did not but he was still suspicions and let her know he was with an intense glare that only served to amuse the princess further.

"Anyway let's begin," Azula started. "First what do you say to your master?"

Jet never cared for the etiquette between master and student, but he wasn't ignorant of it either. He just never had one of either, he learned to fight on his own and so did his friends. Still he fell to his knees and knelt before her.

"I would be honored if you teach me Sifu Azula," he politely asked.

"Sensei," she replied.

"Eh?"

"Sensei is the word for teacher in the old lightning language. I prefer it to Sifu which means master."

Odd thought Jet. He imagined that she of all people would prefer a bigger sounding title to just teacher.

"Lightning is to be controlled but respected Jet. It's more dangerous than all other elements and should be treated as such. You can take air, water and earth for granted even fire won't kill you outright but forgot to respect lightning and you're dead. Believe me I'm not above being humble before things I should be humble before."

"Oh? Somehow I don't get that impression from you."

"I won't bore you with pointless rhetoric like some old man Juju. So just take my word for it when I say that I can play humble and I can be humble. Only a fool is purely arrogant but I am wisely arrogant and arrogantly wise, there's a difference. I am humble before my father and never so proud that I cannot admit my own weaknesses or seek help. When I knew I couldn't catch my brother, Uncle and the Avatar on my own I sought out Ty Lee then Mai to aid me. Then later my brother and the Dai Li. That is the first lesson in lightningbending: practicality Jet. Practicality."

"Practicality?"

"Yes. Earth meets everything stubbornly and foolishness, Air seeks to be above everything and avoid it all, Water flows around everything and never seeks to make its own path while Fire seeks to burn its own path regardless of what lies beyond or how much fuel remains until it is spent. Lightning however is different it finds the best paths to conducts through like water but it makes its own path like fire, it is strong and empowering like earth and swift like the air. It is practical. Realistic."

"That sounds kind of arrogant to me," Jet pointed out.

"I suppose. All elements have aspects similar to each other Jet. Fire is similar to Air they both have a strong emphasis on acrobatics and direct strikes from the hands and feet. Water and Earth similarly are all about shaping and moving their elements from fixed positions. But Lightning itself can be produced by smoke from a volcano, clouds of water in the sky, even dust in deserts all moved by the wind. It should come as no surprise then that lightningbending thus has aspects in all of the above."

Jet gave her an expression of disbelief mingled with a degree of confusion one would expect from a child. Oh wait comparatively speaking he was a child compared to her.

"Not to say that lightningbending is all powerful. It has tons of weaknesses to go with its strengths like all martial arts you just have to remember them and compensate."

"Weaknesses and strengths. Got it."

"The first thing you need to know about lightningbending is balance. This is similar to Earth. You must stay steady and certain just as the ground absorbs thunderbolts you must be grounded in order to dish out and take punishment. Without a firm stance you will be easily defeated by both your enemy and your own power. Now assume this stance."

Azula assumed a sideways stance with her left foot pointed forward and her right pointed to her side ready to move in any of the four cardinal directions to maintain her balance. Her body was turned like a blade presenting a narrow target to attack yet also giving the visage of a sword about the cleave its enemy in two. Her hands were open and above each other palms facing in both directions like she was ready to catch something or strike at any moment.

Jet did as he was told and assumed the same stance which came to him rather naturally as he ignored the cold and biting winds and rain.

"The second aspect of lightningbending is observation and awareness. This is similar to Air. You must be able to predict the enemy's next moves and respond accordingly and flow around it like air. Unlike airbending however lightningbending is about attacking, where airbending focuses on continual evasion lightning is about finding the past of least resistance and the attacking the weakest points. To do this follow their eyes not their hands or the elements they bend. The eyes will tell you what they intend to do before they even do it."

To make her point she punched a fist into the ground and sent forth a shockwave which sent mud and small rocks into the air before she destroyed them all with branching arcs of electricity from another palm strike.

"This leads to the third aspect of lightningbending which is defense and counterattacking. This is similar to Water. In waterbending you flow with an enemy's attack then strike back when they've left themselves open. Rather than smooth away a strike however like water does you must destroy it with your lightning and then strike their opening."

She made circling movements with her hands, then moved them side to side and up and down. Each time she did small bolts of lightning erupted from her hands and expanded into dozens of branches disintegrating small stones and leaves that were being blown into her by the winds. It looked similar to Toph's style of defensive fighting as well as Katara's own waterbending when Jet thought about it.

"The fourth aspect of lightningbending is precision and force. This is similar to Fire. You must strike the enemy's heart killing him before he can kill you. Lightning is deadlier but less destructive than fire. Fire keeps on burning if you ignite something but lightning flashes once and hopes that its enemies have been vanquished, if not it has to strike again and thus lacks fires aggression. Also lightning never strikes the same place twice so you must strive not to be predictable in your attacks."

Finally she made a karate chop causing a huge bolt of lightning to strike a small nearby mountain peak destroying it utterly in a flash of power leaving only a smoldering crater at its summit that was swiftly filled with rainwater.

"Unless you're a lightningbender then you can make it strike the same place as many times as you want," she joked and brought down more thunderbolts to emphasis her point.

Jet of course didn't laugh and again Azula mentally slapped herself for sounding like her uncle.

"Anyway start by creating a bit of electricity, any amount will do. To begin let me tell you this. Lightning comes from your muscles where it forms naturally, you need to create a charge within yourself by separating negative and positive charges to cause them to flow. That part is not difficult simply feel the energy surging through your body, feel the energy of the storm above and then focus it into a positive space and then create an empty negative space. Think of it like breathing, inhale to fill the void in your lungs and exhale to empty it. Filled, empty, filled, empty."

"You're starting to mix elements again. That sounds like air and water."

"Ahem!"

"Sorry."

I took Jet several hours to get it but finally he managed to make a spark in his hands. A tiny, tiny spark but a spark all the same.

"I did it! I did it!" he exclaimed happily then sneezed because of the cold rain.

"Yai. You created a tiny spark. Wonderful," this time she did slap herself because she knew she sounded like Mai.

He worked well into night then the next morning stopping only to eat, dry off and sleep in a cave she tunneled out with her lightning. He imagined he would have probably caught a cold if his constitution were any weaker but the lightning now flowing through his body invigorated him and expelled all such weaknesses.

"It's amazing," he breathed. "Was it like this when you first learned how to lightningbend?" he asked Azula.

"Oh yes. It was the most wonderful feeling I've ever felt," the princess replied honestly.

When they went out again he no longer felt cold or fatigued by the rain and wind. The lightning storm actually made him feel stronger than ever before and his feeble sparks finally grew to potent arcs that danced around his arms.

"Good, you've managed to create electricity. And quite quickly at that. I suppose your combat prowess and well built physique was enough to offset the late training in life."

"Thanks you're a good teacher."

"Why of course. Now on to the next step. Lightning bolts!"

Jet listened intently like an eager schoolboy, he had never listened to anything so intently in his life. But this he wanted to learn and it made him giddy like a kid on Christmas.

"Now then to make lightning shoot forward you need to give it a circuit to follow. Think of it like water following through a pipe or stone channel. You need to create a circuit in the air between you and your target with your chi again with negative and positive chis to direct it at a target but most importantly you need to have an empty mind."

"An…empty mind?"

"Yes, the problem with lightningbending is that it flows down the easiest circuit. The less resistance the better, if there was no resistance at all; if it were superconducting then you'd be able to reach my level as it stands you're barely a novice. Now try and hurl a lightning bolt into the air. Like this!"

She thrust her fist skywards and a thunderbolt shot from it illuminating the night and echoing its thunder through the mountain range. Jet stared transfixed for a moment at the power the girl so easily wielded like it was as natural to her as breathing.

"Alright."

Jet assumed the same steady stance that Azula taught him then created electricity in his hands. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and visualized the circuit as a straight line as Azula explained just like he did in his own body but outside of it and in front of him leading to the sky.

Then he punched but rather than a bolt of lightning the electricity exploded in his face electrocuting him in the process and sent him sprawling to the ground.

Azula didn't even twitch as the explosion blew her trademark (if asymmetrical) wet locks into her eyes and simply brushed them aside. She then sighed and walked over to his still twitching body before kneeling down to prod him back into consciousness with a stick.

"Ow!" he groaned as he slowly opened his eyes.

"You have too much mind," Azula scolded.

"Too much… mind?" he asked slowly as he tried to sit up but his muscles were numb from the electrocution.

"Yes, you mind this, mind that, mind how cool you look, mind your honor, mind your family. Too much mind. You need no mind."

"Exactly how the hell do I get no mind?" he angrily demanded out of a lack of comprehension.

"Alright let me rephrase that. You're being distracted too much. Lightning is the substance of thought. If you let your emotions and thoughts run wild they mess up your chi circuits and the lightning goes crazy and fries your insides. You need to be focused and concentrate on the task at hand. It isn't vital after a degree of mastery when you can still form stable circuits practically on instinct but it's essential at this early stage."

"You make it sound like you have experience?"

"…Actually I do," she brows relaxed from their annoyed expression as she gave him an actually warm and almost sad looking expression. "Why not I'll tell you. It was during the day of Sozin's Comet that I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, my mind was in such a state of emotional chaos that I couldn't lightningbend properly. I still could of course but not as well as I should have been able to. It took longer to form and in the end was massively weaker than it should have been even with all the effort I put in," Azula had to admit there was something cathartic about telling him about her humiliating defeat.

"Sounds rough," Jet offered his sympathy.

"You have no idea. But it does give me an idea of how to deal with your problem."

"What do you have in mind?"

"You're being distracted by past shames and agonies. Perhaps we can rectify that by dealing with something in the present."

* * *

Meanwhile back the campsite at the bottom of the mountains June and Ty Lee were still waiting for Azula and Jet to return all the while Ty Lee was beginning to get impatient for her girlfriend to get back. That Azula was alone with a handsome boy they both once expressed a passing interest in certainly didn't help matters. So Ty Lee as usual kept herself entertained back-flipping, somersaulting, cart-wheeling and pacing about on her hands whenever she wasn't fixing her hair.

Picking up on her turbulent emotions June decided to offer her some advice.

"So what's your relationship to our lightning wielding leader?" the bounty hunter began politely but she already knew the answer.

"Oh we're dating of course," replied the acrobat so happily and plainly as though there was no shame whatsoever in it.

Truth be told Ty Lee held no negative emotions towards becoming Azula's lover even if everyone knew the lightning princess had other opinions on the matter.

"Figured as much. That why are you so jealous of Jet?" June continued while she groomed her shirshu.

"Oh no no," Ty Lee replied but without any rage as June had expected. "I'm not jealous."

"Really. I mean you sound sincere but why?"

"Well. People talk about marrying someone and being the one and only one for them and all but I think it's kind of silly," Ty Lee replied while she swung from her legs on a branch.

"Why?"

"Well I like to have lots of best friends you know. The more the better right?" Ty Lee gave a smile so pure that it made June lose herself for a moment.

"That sounds kind of odd."

"Well I think people get jealous if their lovers are interested in someone else or if their friends like someone more than them because they're afraid of losing them. I think that's why people get married and invent all sorts of strange ideas to keep people to themselves. You know I love her more so I'm leaving you or you can't have her she's mine!?" Ty Lee deepened her voice to try and mimic some boys she knew.

"Insecurity then. Ok that I understand."

"I have faith in Azula June. If she falls in love with Jet than that's good as well. I like Jet too and we can love each other," Ty Lee threw open her arms like she was waiting for someone to hug her then flipped back down onto her feet.

"You're suggesting the three of you all get in bed together?!" June quirked an eyebrow in amazement yet grinned from one cheek as well.

"Well…I wouldn't mind," try as she might Ty Lee failed to be convincing.

"So basically you're worried about losing Azula yet at the same time you're too afraid that you might hurt her if you force her to love only you."

"No…it's not like that!" Ty Lee protested.

"Ok ok. I was just kidding sheesh," June surrendered.

"I don't suppose you have any advice?"

"Me? Nah. Not really."

"Really? Surely someone as beautiful and as old as you must have had a lot of boyfriends?"

"I'm only 19!!" June protested and yelled right into Ty Lee's face.

"What?! Really?!...Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I thought you were like twenty seven!"

Seven seconds later June was chasing Ty Lee around camp with her whip while the acrobat leaped and flipped all over the place trying to avoid the crack of June's weapon while screaming: "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry Sorry! Sorry" with each flip.

* * *

Colonel Mongke and his Rough Rhinos were quite frankly tired to being humiliatingly defeated by old men and little kids yet it seemed every time they encountered either of the two they had their rears roundly kicked. First the Avatar and his friends curb stomped them, then Prince Zuko and his Uncle did and now Jet and his friends as well.

After they had regained their ability to move the riders had returned to their chosen campsite and sat down to eat. It took them days to recover and regroup and moods were foul to say the least.

"What now Colonel?" asked one of the riders.

"What do you think? We track down Jet and his little girls, wait for nightfall then capture them all, sell Jet's head for the bounty then sell the pretty ones to slave traders. That will teach them not to mess with the Rough Rhinos."

In response to the riders laughed and exchanged cheers of approval and encouragement.

"Really how very crass and boring. Surely you have more imagination than that?" Azula insulted as she and Jet walked out of the shadows of the forest.

"You! You're Princess Azula of the Fire Nation!" Mongke gasped.

Before the Rhinos could even ready their weapons Azula's right hand shot forward open and flat like a blade with her fingers pointed. Chain lightning arced into them all numbing their muscles and knocking them off their feet. Their mounts ran from the sound of thunder abandoning their masters.

"Go on Jet. You know you want to," Azula offered and jerked her thumb at their immobilized bodies.

He lurched over to them, shuffling like a zombie going through the motions. He was practically salivating from the mixture of exhilaration, fear and anticipation that gave him the visage of a madman as he stood over Colonel Mongke the single man responsible for the flames that consumed his love ones. He kicked the Colonel over onto his back and pressed his boot against his chest, not that he needed to the older man couldn't move a muscle thanks to Azula.

Jet drew back his fist that crackled with energy but he hesitated while Mongke simply looked absolutely terrified by the crazed teenager. Finally Jet howled, howled with all the pain and agony he had bottled up over the years and struck down sending forth a bolt of lightning at the head of his parents' killer.

But when Mongke opened his eyes he realized that he was still very much alive and that there was now a small glassy crater to the side of his head. He said nothing and only stared transfixed by the panting and wheezing body of the former freedom fighter before Jet finally kicked him in the side and sent him sprawling. The electric numbness finally passed and he and his crew were sent running.

"I won't become like you," he whispered as his enemies ran after their mounts, jumped onto them and fled as fast as they could.

All the while Azula looked on with disappointment in her eyes.

* * *

It was nightfall by the time Jet and Azula got back, it would have been longer if Azula hadn't offered to race down the dirt roads on her plasma jets while Jet piggy-backed. But when they got back the campsite was empty save several erect tents two of which were waiting for the pair. Nyla and Inazuma were sleeping at the edge of the camp so Azula assumed so were June and Ty Lee.

Jet had remained silent during the entire trip back and without a word he began to wander back to his tent. His gait however was one of only physical exhaustion not really emotional fatigue. In fact in that department he seemed renewed. Relieved even.

"So how do you feel Jet?" Azula asked.

"Good…Actually," Jet stopped and turned around to smile at his teacher.

Azula laughed.

"No seriously?"

"I am being serious."

"Really? No feelings of regret for not killing your parents' murderers? No feelings of disappointed for not having the stomach to do it?"

"No not at all."

"Why? Why so noble? It doesn't suit you."

"I…I used to think that too."

"Then what changed it?"

"Katara did, Aang and Sokka too. They made me realize that I had become just like the people I hated the most. Killers. Cold blooded killers with no conscience. No remorse."

"Interesting," she continued to listen to his self-analysis with perverse interest.

"If I had killed the people who murdered my parents I know now that it wouldn't have avenged them. If my parents could see me they'd be disgusted by what I could have become. I won't become a monster Azula!"

"Suit yourself then," Azula shrugged nonchalantly despite being just a little bit disgusted by his attitude and very disappointed in his decision.

"But thank you."

"Oh? Why thank me?"

"I know you probably brought me to them so you could teach me how to kill again. It's something I reckoned you'd do but I'm glad you did anyway. You helped me heal the pain in my heart and learn to be a better man and I'm grateful for that."

"Oh and what about teaching you lightningbending?"

"Oh there's that too. And don't get me wrong I want to keep training."

"You want me to keep teaching you the art of killing with lightning so you can become a better person who does not kill? How paradoxical."

"I can pull my punches Azula, like you did. If I can stun people not kill them then lightning is perfect. I've seen how you and Inazuma can bend metal too. If I can learn that then I can protect and help so many people. Yeah that's what I'll do. I'll become an Iron Knight who defends the weak without ever having to kill."

"Suit yourself," Azula scoffed and returned to her tent on the far side of the campsite.

At least she thought to herself that he could now become more useful as a lightningbender. Like her plan to get Zuko and Mai back together in Ba Sing Se things had not gone as expected but still the end result was the same. Azula now had a lightningbender under her command and that was all that mattered.

But one thing bothered her though. Jet could lightningbend so what made Azula so special she wondered to herself. Why did Inazuma need her specifically? There had to be an absolute reason and why take the Air Nomad domains in particular. Ok they were quite convenient and empty but Azula felt that there was something more to it but she couldn't figure what. Inazuma was hiding something and by the spirits Azula swore she would get to the bottom of it.

* * *

The Rough Rhinos crashed through the brush as quickly as they could eager to escape the wrath of the lightningbender and his terrifying teacher. They didn't stop until the rhinos finally collapsed from exhaustion many hours later.

"What now Colonel?" asked one of the riders between pants.

"Forget Jet. That lightning wench is too powerful!"

"That was Princess Azula," added another rider.

"Yes it was," the gears in Mongke's head began to turn as he considered how best to use this information then finally it hit him.

"We'll travel back to Fire Nation. I'm sure Fire Lord will want to know that his sister is running loose in the Earth Kingdom."

When the Colonel chuckled in anticipation at the prospect of acquittal and reward for the information he could use to bargain with the Fire Lord all of his men joined him in their laughter. That is until a thunderbolt crashed down from the sky and disintegrated the armored bomber and his rhino detonating his bombs in a powerful explosion that left only a smoldering and glassy crater.

"You know it's sad that there isn't a storm up above for me to mindbend. I would really rather not have to kill such loyal soldiers to my brother," Azula chirped with seductively venomous sarcasm.

The Rough Rhinos fox response kicked in and immediately they took out their weapons to fight but two swift kicks loosed lightning bolts that electrocuted the halberd wielder and the archer to death in mere moments. The chain and ball weapon of the dark-skinned rider sped towards her along with bolts of flame but Azula simple extinguished the flames with shockwaves of thunder from an explosion of punches the kicked the metal ball back to its wielder completely entangling him in his own chain.

Then with a sadistic grin she drew her hands into fists making an X with her arms like she was crushing a small animal in a fierce bear hug and the chains responded to her metalbending crushing every bone in the rider's body killing him with a throaty gurgle.

Mongke finally gave in to his fear and ran for his life no longer caring about his exhausted and lame komodo rhino or his dead friends. He just ran until Azula grabbed the iron in his bracers with her metalbending and pulled his arms across his throat strangling him.

"S-S-STOP! P-P-PLEASE!!" he screamed before the foam filled his mouth and he had no more air to speak with.

"Running away without avenging your comrades? How dishonorable," Azula spat in disgust then broke his neck from afar with her bending and his own arms.

She felt no real pleasure from killing, the elation she derived from delivering death was only incidental to the joy she received by a challenge won otherwise murder was just an act as simple and plain and natural to her as walking or breathing. With no conscience or remorse thanks to her mental disorders she killed without making her heart skip a beat. It was simply business and because there was no challenge and only the most minor benefit to her secrecy she felt nothing and simply buried their bodies, slaughtered their rhinos and buried them too before returning to her companions.

"I really am a monster," she noted to herself mechanically. "How very delicious," she then added enthusiastically and smiled to herself with the revelation of how invincible her psyche truly was.

* * *

Author's Note: Oh and did you know there's a kind of lightning called Jets. Lol. Seriously it exists. Look up wiki.

Oh and Azula is just shy of 16 about Zuko's age when the show started. Plus basic medical surgery and first aid is a requirement in most modern militaries not so much ancient militaries but the Fire Nation seems to a hybrid of both brought on by a mysterious rapid growth in technology and tactics so Azula I expect at least knows basic treating and stitching of wounds. Also Azula does have genuine feelings for her friends especially Ty Lee she's just really evil and somewhat abusive about it.

Oh and if anyone finds that they can't bring themselves to root for Azula because of her canonical mad skills and general amoral psychopathy that's the point. That's how I'm writing it, at least for now. Without giving away spoilers things will happen that might change that.

Also the new empire might be let by a sociopath but already it's now comprised of Jet, June and Ty Lee…Ok at least it has Ty Lee


	8. Knowledge is Power

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 07: Knowledge is Power.

"_What a man knows not, he to use requires. And what he knows, he cannot use for good." __– Faust_

Azula had little to fear from June making her presence known to her brother or the Avatar. The bounty hunter held no particular affection for either and understood discretion and was loyal enough to Azula (or more precisely the wealth Azula represented) to stay quiet. She was deliciously mercenary. Jet had a twisted and rather lost sense of honor and felt that he owed Azula much, he did owe her much but his opinion of how much that much was was self-exaggerated of course. It made it easy to convince him not to send messages to her enemies not that he had any reason to. He held no particular affection for the Avatar and his friends either and helping Azula benefited him.

Even Ty Lee had chosen not to alert Zuko, one because she just wasn't that clever, two because Azula obviously suffered some clear trauma at the hands of Zuko and Aang and Ty Lee figured that calling them in would hurt Azula even more. Memories of the end result of her punching Azula in the back was proof enough of how fragile the princess really was and three because Ty Lee loved her and had faith in her. However misplaced. Truth be told Ty Lee preferred the company of the more pleasant Kyoshi warriors but strange feelings of guilt as well as her infatuation were keeping her tied to Azula as well.

As for more serious matters Jet proved to be about as talented as Zuko it would seem and according to Inazuma his chi levels were about equal. It took him weeks of constant work to learn basic lightningbending and at least now he could shoot off a few thunderbolts in rapid succession among other sequences. He was weeks away from any advanced techniques if ever and months away from metalbending, she knew though that he had neither the stomach nor the talent needed for mindbending. But Azula had faith in him at least learning to call down lightning eventually, the kid had drive if anything. And he had at least the advantage of age and exceptional fighting skills honed by actual combat experience to make up for a lack of actual bending training from an early age.

On the brighter side Azula's hair had finally grown back much to her joy with the extra weeks returning her visage back to its original state. It wouldn't do for a demon to have lop-sided horns after all.

At any rate the group continued to move when they could and by then they had reached the mountains just north of the city of Ba Sing Se less than a day's travel more by Tigerhawk. They had moved down to the foot of a mountain to gather food and Jet and Azula had taken of course to drilling sequences of kicks and punches letting loose bolts of cerulean lightning into the otherwise clear and bright sky while Ty Lee cooked and June sat around.

"Ugh, I could use a storm right now," Jet groaned causing Azula to roll her eyes.

It had been weeks since he had felt the power of a storm flowing through his muscles and like Azula he always felt a bit lethargic without a certain degree of cloud cover and altitude. At Azula's order (she had to resort to ordering him) he had thrown away his half-destroyed old mismatched clothes and armor (however nostalgic) in favor of a white kimono shirt with the golden symbol of lightning and a pair of black hakama pants that were similar to Azula's hakama skirt. Of course these were a pair of trousers not a skirt but baggy trousers that stopped at his ankles which had white socks and black sandals on them like Azula's.

Actually they were Azula's, the girl was pretty big for a girl, nearly as big as Jet and her brother. Bigger even than Sokka and Katara. And several times as fit and well-built. While not muscular like himself Jet had to admired his teacher's well-toned physique. Azula being as perceptive as usual caught the occasional glances.

"You just have to ask you know," she flirted.

Jet predictably turned away blushing and chewed on his trademark piece of straw causing Ty Lee and June to giggle.

* * *

To get into Ba Sing Se was as Azula discovered ridiculously easy. She had sneaked in once before in the guise of a Kyoshi warrior and now she sneaked in again in the guise of well, a traveler actually.

"Geez, I thought security was bad before but it sure has gone to mush since the end of the war," Azula threw up her hands in disgust as she and her companions minus Inazuma and Nyla (animals were not permitted and the last of the Tigerhawks would draw too much attention from stupid poachers).

Peace and King Kuei back from his long walk about it seemed had removed quite a few of the xenophobic tendencies of the Earth Kingdom capital. As such entry was permitted to travelers with passports that could easily be acquired from any ministerial offices in the outer walls of Ba Sing Se. All it took was a little question answering, some money and a few days of waiting. A few of Azula's bureaucratic and social charms, a very little bit of money and about thirty minutes later they had fake passports they used to get in. Well she did anyway, she was the only real fugitive after all.

"So we're going after your fat Uncle huh?" June asked while they traveled in an otherwise empty earthbending train.

"Oh him, I meet him before when he was calling himself Mushi," Jet added.

"Remember Azula. You said you wouldn't hurt him," Ty Lee reminded like some stern mother.

"Ok, June yes we're going to talk to my Uncle, yes Jet I know he was under the alias Mushi and that you two met and no Ty Lee I won't hurt him but I will defend myself if he decides to lash out for some random reason. That ok with you?"

"I guess," experience told her that Azula's random reasons tended to be far from random.

"Anyway there are a couple things I want to do first, so I suggest that while we're in town everyone relax and have fun."

"Huh?!" everyone raised eyebrows at Azula like she had just suggested that they all dye their hair pink and wear underwear on their head.

In the short time that June and Jet had known her they had learned like Ty Lee had learned a long time ago that besides psychotic, devious, charismatic, magnificent, brilliant, terrifying and several other adjectives they couldn't be bothered listing because it would take too long Azula was an obsessive compulsive perfectionist workaholic.

"What?" Azula asked casually pretending that she didn't know what they were thinking.

"Well…" June tried to find the snarkiest way to word her response.

"You're an obsessive compulsive perfectionist workaholic," Jet deadpanned.

"I'm not obsessive compulsive!" Azula calmly protested.

The expressions she got in return told her that none of them believed her.

Granted work for her was fun about the only real pleasure she enjoyed these days (aside from making love and getting groomed and pampered but only because it made her feel rich and important).

Hence the first thing Azula did was bee-line to a hotel and rent the nicest private house in the compound. It ended up being ironically enough the same house that she, Mai and Ty Lee were in when they were pretending to be Kyoshi warriors.

"Oh cool, we get this place again!" Ty Lee predictably squealed.

Azula then decided to head to a local blacksmith where she rented the use of his forge. The rest of her crew were puzzled by why she would do this but that become apparent moments later. Using her metalbending she shot arcs of electricity into the ground outside and like magic black sand erupted from the ground and formed into solid blocks as black as coal the likes of which none of them had ever seen then began heating one in the forge and folding it with her metalbending.

"You can bend metal!" gasped the blacksmith.

"I'm an earthbender," Azula lied. "I met this girl named Toph, she taught me how."

The blacksmith had heard of the legendary self-proclaimed greatest earthbender on Earth who taught and traveled with the Avatar and took Azula's word for it. Toph made it no secret that she had discovered how to bend metal.

The block of red hot metal was folded a dozen times, then a hundred times as she beat it with invisible forces directed by the constant hammering of her fists into a sharp blade. As she forged it the blade took on a slight curve until finally after hours of work and sweat she dunked it into a bucket of water for the last time.

The metal of the blade was beautiful; the purest of silver yet it shimmered and sparkled like the tiniest of gems had been encrusted into it. The blacksmith was so awed by the craftsmanship that she had to slap him back to his senses so he could attach the wooden handle she instructed him on how to make. She then went on to crafting a second blade.

"This is an experimental forging technique created by the weaponsmiths in the Fire Nation. It was never favored over casting because it took too long to produce weapons but it creates a blade of far greater quality that standard arms," Azula explained.

The only one who wasn't really interested was Ty Lee on the account of her placing deadly weapons in the same category as centipede-roaches. June could appreciate fine blades though she never used them, Jet loved swords and was silently hoping Azula would make him a pair and the blacksmith was well. He was practically worshiping the ground Azula was walking on.

It took a couple more hours of work even with metalbending to help her cut wood and leather with steel blades and shape the golden metal handle caps and hilt guards but eventually Azula produced a pair of beautiful gold and silver katanas with black hilts and intricate patterns of tigers on the sides of the blades.

Finally she crafted glossy black scabbards for them and slowly and delicately sheathed them both.

"This is a katana, similar to the tachi swords used by the Kyoshi warriors the big difference being these are made of jewel steel ten fold the strength of cast steel and the blades are thicker and singled edged. Here try it," she offered both swords to Jet in a respectable manner resting gently on her outstretched fingers.

Jet was speechless, he had never seen such fine blades and felt somewhat unworthy of them. At the same time he was apprehensive. Azula? Generous? The concept seemed so alien.

"Think of it as generous gift. I want to congratulate you on your progress in bending."

"You just want to make me more useful don't you?" he asked plainly.

"Well at least you're a little smarter than my brother was," she noted with a little joy.

Regardless he took up the swords and tried them out one in each hand. They felt strong, yet quite light at the same time. With a quick swing he cut a bundle of bamboo sticks with ease, then tried them on other blades and finally the stone wheel of a blade sharpener. The swords cut through them all like butter.

"Awesome! These swords are awesome!" he yelled in abject happiness.

"But of course," Azula arrogantly replied.

She ended up buying the weaponsmith's silence telling him he could keep the technique if he told no one she taught him. Needless to say the smith was thankful to his sensei and swore on pain of death to keep her anonymous.

As for Jet he looked like he was walking on air with his two swords strapped to this belt one on each side.

"Teach me how to metalbend!" Jet suddenly demanded.

"Maybe after you've mastered lightning and thunder I'll consider it," Azula replied.

"That can wait I want to learn how to move metal!" Jet demanded again.

Finally Azula sighed and relented.

"Fine."

The two went to the backyard behind their hotel house where Azula had placed several metal objects on the ground for him to practice with. Jet sat down cross-legged as Azula stood and began her newest lecture.

"Now metalbending. In the Earth Style metalbending is not so much the manipulation of the actual metal itself but rather the minute quantities of earth inside of the metal. Most metals generally have a very small quantity of impurity in it while steel is an alloy composed of iron with a deliberate small percentage of carbon the same substance as charcoal. This content is so small that earthbenders can't see it anymore than we can see the water or dust in the air but Toph managed to find those tiny homogeneous particles since she navigated by sensing earth anyway and bent metal that way. Technically it's no different that the Southern Water Style which found water in the air."

"So? Are you saying that the Lightning Style can actually bend the metal not the earth in it?"

"Only magnetic metals, so mostly anything that has iron in it."

"Magnetic?"

"The invisible force that guides a compass. Here."

Azula took out a pair of rectangular magnets she shaped from lodestones.

"These are called magnets. Like positive and negative charges that move electricity positive and negative charges also create magnetic fields which can either attract," she released the stones let their force snap them together in mid-air. "Or repel," then she turned them around and they repelled each other."

"Wow!"

"This force is natural. No bending is required. Thus the Lightning Style is not actually the bending of metal itself but the Lightning in the metal. Now you try it."

Azula levitated a large silvery black rock and placed it in front of Jet who jumped to his feet ready to try metalbending.

"Now this is actually similar to waterbending more than earthbending. Yes the element you're bending is solid like stone but what you're actually doing it not lifting the metal but pushing and pulling it with magnetic fields. Try to think of that when you metalbend."

"No problem. This will be easy."

Before Azula could even instruct him in the movements he tried to move the lodestone the way he had seen her do it.

"Wait! I said it's like pushing and pulling not lift-"

Before she could finish her sentence Jet tried to move the magnetic rock and triggered the attractive effect first causing the large magnetic stone to smack him in the face dazing him long enough for the chamber pot, pots, pans, kitchen utensils, horseshoes and various other steel objects to bombard him relentless in various painful regions both above and below the belt until he passed out.

Azula simply smacked her forehead and let him stay buried under all the metal as she walked away in disgust.

* * *

The group ended up splitting up to do their respective things. Ty Lee went to the Ba Sing Se zoo that Aang had built, she loved animals while Jet went off to play hero by beating up muggers on the street while June went to a bar to get drunk and beat up morons trying to hit on her.

Azula decided to head for the Fancy Lady Day Spa best saloon in the city to get some royal pampering. It had been weeks since her last royal hair combing since her defeat on the Day of the Comet and she was in sore need of it. On the way however someone tried to mug her.

"Give me your money!" he demanded. Bad move.

With one hand and one hand only she broke his neck straight around without even blinking.

"He's dead! You killed him!" screamed a random woman.

"Oops," was Azula's only response. "This is awkward."

Some bribery and quick talking later allowed her to avoid the police and she was reminded just how much she loved the degree of corruption present in the Earth Kingdom.

A whole days worth of pampering later Azula finally left the spa some time in the evening well-powdered and clad in heavy looking makeup.

"Oh yeah! That bath really hit the spot," she moaned pleasurably as she left the spa.

After that a really nice dinner was in order and so Azula went to nicest restaurant in the city where she found a most amusing sight. Ty Lee was getting picked on by some noble girl and her two identical looking friends who were telling her that her braid looked ugly. To her credit Ty Lee was fighting back with her own brand of non-aggressive verbal banter but it was clear that the only one getting hurt there was Ty Lee.

Then a thought hit Azula and she confidentially walked right up to the three girls.

"Oh hi you must the rich, wonderful, super-beautiful and hyper intelligent Gong Mei," Azula convincingly complimented.

"Why yes, now here's a girl who understands one's place in the world," the noble girl replied ever so disdainfully.

"Is it true you made out with a farmboy in his barn and got sick and itchy because of it?" Azula then asked coyly and very loudly so everyone could hear.

Everyone heard it and the noble girl twitched perceptibly before bursting into tears and before running as fast as she could out of the restaurant with her entourage in tow while everyone else roared with laughter.

"Thanks Azula," Ty Lee chirped.

"Don't mention it. I would never let anyone hurt you," this time her words were actually honest.

It was too bad that they didn't apply to herself.

"I know," Ty Lee smiled.

"Dinner date?"

"Definitely."

It was so nice to have such a suave girlfriend.

* * *

It was later that night after making love that Azula decided there were some things she needed to tell Ty Lee. Both of them were still naked in bed and in each others arms and it was barely midnight so neither Jet nor June had gotten back yet.

"I'm sorry Ty Lee," Azula began.

"For what?" asked the girl resting on Azula's chest.

"For giving you such a rough childhood. For forcing you to hunt the Avatar, my brother and my uncle with me. And well I'm sorry for just about everything up until now and probably for a lot of things later too," Azula blushed ever so nervously as she apologized though her words were only mildly sincere.

Her love for Ty Lee was real even if she didn't fully realize it herself but guilt was not something she could feel.

"It's alright I forgive you," Ty Lee giggled at her lover's sudden and awkward thoughtfulness.

"Really?"

"Yeah…I also forgive you for killing those pirates and those soldiers. I mean I know they probably deserved it but I believe that if you're strong enough to then you can win any fight without having to kill anyone."

"That's…an interesting way of looking at it," Azula gave her girlfriend a puzzled look.

"Well isn't that why the Avatar is really strong?"

"I suppose," the former princess just shrugged.

"And besides you managed to conquer the whole Earth Kingdom without killing anyone."

"That is true," Azula laughed.

"Promise me then that you won't ever kill anyone ever again. Please?" pouted the acrobat.

"You give me too much credit. You know I can't make that I kind of a promise."

"Then at least try. Please. I don't want you to become a monster."

A bit late for that Azula mentally noted sarcastically. Still Azula found it touching that Ty Lee already didn't think she was a monster like everyone else did.

"Alright. I'll try."

"Now there's one last thing I want to ask of you?" Ty Lee paused as she waited for her girlfriend's permission.

"Ty Lee you know you can ask me anything."

"Ok. I want you to forgive everyone else."

"…Excuse me!?"

"Zuko and all of his friends told me that they're willing to forgive you. But I think what's more important is that you forgive them."

"Forgive them?"

"Yeah, forgive Aang for taking away your firebending and defeating your father, forgive Zuko and Katara for beating you. And just forgive them all in general so we can all be friends. Can you do that for me Azula?"

"…I'll...I'll think about it."

* * *

The Jasmine Dragon was famed throughout Ba Sing Se not only for its excellent tea but also for its excellent service and excellent wages. It was this last aspect that probably attracted the girl named Jin to work there as a waitress. That and the belief that Zuko would frequent it often enough even though she knew that the handsome boy was dating another girl on the other side of the world. A girl could dream after all. Sadly the Fire Lord had not visited Ba Sing Se for many weeks not since he and Team Avatar went there for their private after war celebration. Jin had much to her chagrin missed that event having been given employment after the fact.

It was on the third night of her stay in Ba Sing Se that Azula decided to strike at the cusp of another storm, a lighter storm but a storm nonetheless. A storm that allowed her to mindbend and win quickly without causing a scene. She knew Iroh was a formidable fighter even though she also knew that as it stood he was no match for her certainly not now.

"Kuwabara, Kuwabara," she chanted as usual.

The lightning princess didn't want Ty Lee coming along to see what she was about to do. And so she only brought June and Jet with her.

"Stay close and stay alert. June I hope those shirshu poison darts can make up for the lost of your pet?" Azula instructed.

"It'll do," June smiled confidently and fingered the blow gun Azula made for her loaded with darts tipped in her shirshu's toxins.

"And try not to cause a scene like last time Jet. Even without the Dai Li."

"Sure," he replied sarcastically.

Azula entered the Jasmine Dragon near to closing time and took the nearest seat to the entrance. She wore an Earth Kingdom disguise of course composed of a white dress and a floral arrangement built into a bun of hair and long golden pins and enough makeup to make the Kyoshi warriors envious. Even now the place was full showing just how popular it was. Her target was of course in the open kitchen at the back of the shop open for all the world to see.

Yet Iroh continued to work happily, enthusiastically and diligently without even noticing that she had entered never mind that she was his niece in disguise.

Almost immediately Azula was served by none other than Jin who Azula recognized from memories she had seen in Zuko's brain. So this was his last girlfriend before Mai she thought with an evil grin.

"Hi can I take your order?" asked the Earth Kingdom girl with a smile.

"Yes, chrysanthemum tea thank you," Azula curtly replied and dropped some copper coins in Jin's hand.

Azula waited for another half-hour before all the people finally shuffled out (rather unwillingly at that) before she made her move. Iroh had gone into the storeroom in the back to put away his stock and to make a count so he knew what to buy the following day. This left Jin in the serving room to sweep the floors and clean the tables, alone with Azula.

"Uhm, we're closing up," Jin informed the lightning princess.

"I know."

"Oh. Okay."

"I was hoping that we could talk," the princess began coyly eying the Earth Kingdom girl with a predatory gleam.

"Uh sure I guess. What did you want to talk about?" Jin asked nervously unsure what this stranger wanted.

Not that Jin was unfriendly or anything far from it, she loved to chat with customers but it was just that this customer was far too well refined to be the chatty kind and far too intense looking to be a flabby noble.

"You're Jin aren't you? I've heard things about you."

"Oh? Nice things I hope."

"You're the girl whom my brother dated once I believe?" Azula stood up and approached her smiling in that little devious way she always did.

"Brother?" Jin scrunched up her eyebrows as she squinted at the mysterious girl trying to place a relation to the face, then she saw Azula's shimmering golden eyes and it clicked. "Lee! Oh wow I didn't know Lee had a sister!"

"He does. Tell me did you kiss him? Was he any good?"

"We did once," Jin looked away slightly embarrassed. "He said that things were too complicated for him and then wow turns out he's Fire Lord Zuko. Who would have thought," girlishly laughed the Earth girl.

Azula chuckled somewhat femininely in reply while putting her hand to her lips.

"Yes who would have thought. But tell me was he any good a kisser?"

"Well yeah, he's pretty hot. Why are you like his over-protective big sister or something?"

"You might say that. On occasion. Still you seem to have gotten over him just fine."

"Yeah well you win some you lose some I guess," chuckled Jin, then a thought struck her and she pondered on it for a moment looking to away to aid in the process. "Hey wait a minute. Lee is really Fire Lord Zuko and his sister is…" having suddenly realized who she was talking to Jin's head jerked back to looking at the girl who petrified her in fear.

The Conqueror of Ba Sing Se was the thought Jin used and Azula read it.

"Yes, you've got it right girl and I must say I'm giving very serious thought," Azula took a step forward and Jin stumbled back too scared to even breathe. "To killing my brother," Azula smiled from ear to ear then pinched a pressure point on Jin's neck rendering her unconscious.

Azula caught the girl with silk smooth grace placing her hand gently around her back like a dancer and easily motioned her into a chair where she settled her in comfortably for a night's sleep.

"You certainly have good taste brother," Azula smirked as her eyes roved over the young girl's body, then she placed the lightest peck on her lips. "You certainly taste nice too."

With a few motions of her fingers against Jin's scalp Azula deleted all the memories of their little transaction and replaced them memories of a pleasant conversation between new friends.

"Jin?" yelled Iroh from his storeroom in the back. "If you're finished you can go on home. I left your money on the counteeerrrrr!!!" Iroh stepped out of the backroom and immediately back-pedaled on reflex causing him to fall flat on his rear very ungracefully.

"Azula!!" he screamed.

"Now he recognizes me," Azula rolled her eyes then quickly jabbed a pair of fingers forward overloading a few nerve clusters that sent him to sleep.

Azula dragged her uncle into the storeroom and tied him to a chair. Just to be safe she used her mindbending to block off all his chi and paralyze all his limbs. Now he couldn't even breathe fire. Satisfied with her handiwork she slapped him back into consciousness. He wasted no time at all to try and struggle against the paralysis and ropes. Then when he couldn't manage that he tried spitting fire at her but that didn't do anything either except spray spittle comically.

"Try not to scream. I wouldn't want to have to do something we'd both regret to young Jin," was the first thing Azula said as she brewed some tea, back turned disdainfully and all.

"If you touch her I'll make you suffer a hundred fold," the old Dragon growled menacingly.

"Oh don't look at me like that, I'm not going to kill her. I take no pleasure in killing unless there's something to gain from it, then I judge such an action by how much I gain," with the tea finished she poured herself a cup and began drinking. "I'd offer you some but it's obvious you're lacking in the manual dexterity necessary for it at the moment."

"What are you going to do to her?"

"Nothing. Unless you make me. And believe me there are things in this world far worse than death," she informed then sat down opposite to him.

"…What do you want from me?"

"Still so quick to get to the point. Oh well I'm the mood for punctuality over formality today. Tell me uncle is it true that when Zuko suggested helping me to find the good in me you replied by saying that I needed to go down?"

"…Yes," Iroh replied somewhat shamefully. "Zuko is at heart a good person but you. You're crazy!"

"Interesting. For a man who would give a complete stranger mugging him advice on life you have a very strange grasp of family values."

"Depends on the family," Iroh defiantly shot back as he continued to try and manifest even tiniest of flames to burn his ropes. He was still failing of course.

"Indeed. But still being so rude is very unbecoming. I'd been led to believe that the Dragon of the West was polite towards everyone. So why am I the exception. Certainly manners aren't wasted on me as it is with most plebeians."

"Let's just say that you're neither someone I'd ever trust nor someone I shouldn't fear."

So he's afraid of me she thought to herself happily. Good. Excellent.

"Is it comforting?" she then decided to move on to other topics.

"You mean the chair?" Could use a cushion," he playfully replied.

"The belief that my father was somehow responsible for the death of your beloved Lu Ten?"

"What makes you think I believe he was responsible for that from half way around the world?"

"Oh please. Who do you think you're talking to?"

Iroh opened his mouth to answer but Azula already knew he was going to answer her question with another of his pathetically cryptic "Do you?" responses.

"Don't answer that I already know what you're going to say."

"Is that so? Then why are you asking me questions if you already have the answers. You used some kind of bending on me I've never heard of before so I'm going to assume that the Avatar failed to strip you of your bending. And I'm going to assume that you can only read my mind if you get me to think about what you're looking for."

"Hmm how very perceptive of you. But I would expect no less from the great General Iroh."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. There's no doubt that I think that you are nothing compared to my father but I still do respect you."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want I care not."

"No I mean I don't believe that you believe that you're father was all that great."

"Well my father was ambitious but not that smart. Just for you information Lu Ten's death was entirely your own fault."

"…I know," he looked like he was about to cry and that made Azula roll her eyes in disgust.

"You're not as good or as kind as you think you are Uncle. Ultimately you're still human, you have your petty flaws and little shames. This being one of them."

"I…don't deny it."

"Why? Do you think that admitting it makes you a better man?"

"Yes and so should you!"

"Oh uncle I always admit my mistakes and make up for them. Why do you think I exchanged my army of Imperial Firebenders for a squad of elite non-benders?"

"It is never too late to apologize Azula," Iroh then changed gears.

"Apologize? Apologize for what?"

"For all your crimes Azula?"

"Crimes what crimes? Oh wait you mean like conquering innocent provinces with brute force, burning down villages like on Kyoshi island or laying siege to a great city for 600 days while killing thousands of soldiers and sacrificing just as many and failing and in the process getting my own son killed. Oh wait those are your crimes and Zuko's. So why are you two living it up then while I have to languish in a prison for a life of honor, discipline, self-sacrifice and unwavering loyalty?"

This time Iroh remained silent.

"Let see I've killed…no one actually, even my attempt to kill the Avatar ended in failure disappointingly. I took Ba Sing Se without killing anyone or getting anyone killed even going so far as to deliberately allow the Avatar to defeat the drill so I could minimize casualties, I stopped the Black Sun Invasion without sacrificing any of my soldiers or killing any of the invaders even though I should have, I didn't kill anybody at Omashu nor any of the Kyoshi warriors even though I should have. Really what crimes have I committed that you, Zuko and dozens of officers and soldiers that have been pardoned for have not committed a dozen fold?"

"You were always so cruel to people."

"Please. You aren't going to guilt me over petty grievances now are you? Like I don't know lashing out at people in anger, shooting flames at innocent bystanders. Oh wait again that's Zuko."

"Well your brother has changed. But I can see that you have not!"

"Spare me uncle. People don't change, they just grow up. Zuko was always a goody-goody and you were always a crackpot and that hasn't changed. I have to admit I used to think that you were lazy and callous in the way you jovially disregarded things."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Nothing. You just showed me that I was right when you made Zuko Fire Lord instead of taking the role yourself."

"Zuko deserved his crown. He earned it."

"No I earned it. I was loyal to my king and country, that is true honor."

"No it isn't. Zuko did the right thing!"

"The right thing? Please. Where does right end and correct begin? Are you saying that it's ok to betray and conspire against your own father, a father who actually does care about you enough to sacrifice his own wife for your sake. To attack your own countrymen, to commit treason. Just because it's the right thing to do? You're definition of honor is less about honor and more about what's convenient for you petty conscience. Zuko didn't earn the crown he simply defected to the winning side at the right moment and as a reward he got the throne and the right to write history as to paint himself as the one in the right. How is that honorable?"

"It is the greater honor because he stopped the war and brought peace."

"Peace. Oh please. No Avatar has ever lived and died in times that were not interesting. Even now rebellion and civil war brew everywhere now that the Fire Nation has fallen. I've read the news of impending bankruptcy in the Fire Nation uncle as Zuko tries to mend the wounds in the world and what do you do? You sit here happily in your little shop drinking tea and playing Pai Sho after putting an incompetent seventeen year old whose life has been a living hell however self-inflicted in a role that weighs more than a mountain of lead. You truly are callous."

Despite himself Iroh had to admit that there was some painful wisdom in her words and he began to doubt the sense in his decisions. It was the one thing that Iroh hated and feared most in his niece, that she had a mind far sharper than even his own and a charisma that he wished could be turned to the service of good for he knew that if he could turn her from the darkness there would be no conflicts in the world anymore because she'd be able to talk everyone out of it and solve all their problems.

"I see your breakdown has made you even less human and far more monstrous. You've become more mature and refined."

"Oh you have no idea," she smiled at him as she lay down her head on her hand with her elbow against the table.

She spent some moments just reading his reactions, his mind and his emotions. Just wondering what he would think of next.

"You're hoping to break your bonds and kill me here and now uncle?"

"It's necessary."

"Really? Answer me this however, you told Zuko that it was wrong for you to fight your brother and take the throne. Yet why exactly did you then tell Zuko to come and fight me his own sister for the throne?"

There was a moment of silence as Iroh looked away in shame, the answer flashed through his thoughts visible for Azula to see as though he made no attempt to hide the truth.

"Forgive me Zuko," was all he whispered.

"Typical. That no one cares what I think," she jabbed an extended knuckle forward and mindbent his brain into unconsciousness.

Hopping over behind him she began deleting his memories of their little transaction before going into probe his mind searching for the answers she sought on how to cross over into the spirit world. She knew the Great Library of Wan Shi Tong had vanished, she had searched for it during the time between when she lost the Avatar in that abandoned town and when she waited for the Drill to reach Ba Sing Se by water using notes Zhao left behind but it wasn't there. Reports from some sandbenders made it clear to her that the spirit who preceded over the library had taken it back to the spirit world leaving her no choice but to resort to learning how to cross over.

She searched for hours until finally she came upon a scene that struck her interest. It was of a hill during a gloomy and rainy day, Iroh was kneeling before a grave she recognized as belonging to the cremated remains of her cousin Lu Ten.

"My beloved Lu Ten we will meet again," he cried.

The old General then reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of black liquid. Azula immediately recognized poison and he drank it and slowly went to sleep before finally his heart stopped.

The memory then shifted and she saw Iroh no Iroh's spirit floating in a great sea of orange clouds. Then a figure appeared, an apparition that glowed translucent blue and Azula immediately recognized from portraits the man who was once Avatar Roku.

"Prince Iroh," the Avatar greeted.

"Avatar Roku!" gasped the old General.

"It is not your time, you have much still to do. I will give you the power to see the world as I do and to understand it as I do," and he touched the general's forehead and chest energybending knowledge and power into him.

"Our time is brief, you can only stay in limbo for so long before it becomes permanent so forgive me for using energybending to impart this knowledge and instructions."

And then from the other side Avatar Roku healed the poison from her uncle and he lived again. Checking his memories she realized that then was the summer solstice. Interesting. Not long after Azula saw Iroh on Roku's Island a small island not far from the capital where he began digging into the ash eventually finding a small golden hairpiece Azula recognized from portraits of the old Fire Princes. It was the hairpiece of the crown prince once lost when Sozin gave to Roku as a gift and a gamble to earn to the Avatar's blessing for the war. A gambit that ultimately failed.

"So that's how it happened," the lightningbender noted to herself.

She took the knowledge imparted into Iroh from Avatar Roku and stored it in her own mind. Including a means by which enter the spirit world. She had all she needed now and decided it was time to leave. And so she untied her uncle and put him in a position where combined with mindbending he'd awake to think that he had fallen asleep at work.

On the way out Azula rummaged through Iroh's personal stash of rare tea leaves and found lo and behold a small clay pot full of the leaves of the white dragon bush.

"Hmm," she smiled widely and pocketed the tea leaves.

* * *

Ty Lee, June and Jet woke the next morning to find Azula alarmingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed reading a news-scroll and eating a red bean bun, a pot of tea had been brewed and Azula had seemingly kindly set out cups for them. How is it that this girl can be so graceful in all things the trio wondered, Zuko was supposed to be her brother yet she was nothing like the whiny, uncouth and bumbling buffoon.

"Tea?" she asked politely.

"Oh sure," they all thanked and greedily poured and drank. Except for June who eyed her carefully.

"So how's the tea?" Azula asked rather deviously.

"Oh great! It's delicious," Ty Lee thanked.

"Thanks. It's pretty good," Jet added.

"What is it?" June asked being the smarter of the three.

"None of you feel itchy or anything?"

"Uh no."

"No."

June chuckled under her breath.

"Oh good," she sighed and took her first sip of the morning. "I thought it might be deadly poisonous white jade, it's easy to confuse for white dragon bush," Azula smiled innocently causing the pair to spit out their tea violently.

"I'm just kidding, I already tried some just in case" Azula giggled as she drank her tea.

"Seriously! What if it was poison?!" Jet asked.

"I keep an antidote to every poison known with me at all times."

"Oh."

Ty Lee chuckled nervously unsure how to response to her girlfriend's brand of black humor. In the end she decided to ask something unrelated but relevant.

"What about your uncle?" Ty Lee asked.

"Already saw him. The tea was a gift."

"Really?"

"Yes, you were right he is pretty nice and forgiving. He told me everything I needed to know once I explained everything."

Azula cast a cursory glance at her companions. Ty Lee with her hair out of her braid and messy had a cute appeal to it, it reminded Azula of a scruffy kitten. June looked less worse for the wear but not as composed as she did when normally awake plus her skull motif hairpiece was missing showing Azula just how much longer her hair was to her own. Jet looked the worse of the bunch his hair actually had gone large and puffy, practically afro like which earned several giggles from the other two girls beside him when they first saw him. Even Azula giggled a little.

"The hair is a by-product of lightningbending Jet. Comes usual after sleep, just think of it like a wooden morning. Shooting off a few will help," Azula advised seductively.

As per usual Jet got very uncomfortable around the perversely dominating woman.

"I was talking about firing off lightning bolts, even a little will calm your stiff erect parts."

June predictably smiled at his discomfort while Ty Lee was for the most part confused.

"I was talking about your hair," Azula continued to tease.

Another day of fun and relaxation passed, Azula took Ty Lee to the zoo then to play after lunch. They all reconvened in the evening but Azula had dressed herself once more in the fine wears of a Ba Sing Se noble drawing curious stares from her companions.

"Why are you dressed up Azula?" Ty Lee asked.

"Oh, remember that young noble girl who was picking on you."

"Uhm…oh yeah her, I remember her," Ty Lee replied with no malice towards that noble girl whatsoever.

"Ah Ty Lee. So little malice and so much kindness. You'll be glad then to know then that I've decided to go and apologize her. In fact I think I'll have her and her friends for dinner."

"Oh that's wonderful Azula," Ty Lee naively complimented.

Needless to say the less naïve Jet and June were rather disturbed by the potential implications of her statement and decided they'd rather not know. Those three girls were never seen again.

* * *

Author's Note:If anyone feels squicked out or feel like punching Azula for cheating on Ty Lee then rest assured that's intentional. Remember she's still a magnificent bitch. Oh sorry for not updating in so long, I came down with something then had stuff to do but now I'm back and hopefully I can get another chapter out by Sunday. Well read and review people please, I feel lonely.

Azula is actually taller than Sokka and Katara by about an inches, a lot of Sokkla writers seem to write her as incorrectly smaller not to mention physically weaker. She's only slightly shorter than Zuko but only by a couple of centimeters give or take a few episodes, as well as other girls like Mai and Ty Lee, even Suki yeah the girl has great genes. Just look at a few episodes: Avatar State is good for comparing Zuko and Azula's heights, you can also see that Sokka and Katara are much smaller than Zuko in The Boiling Rock, The Southern Raiders and The Waterbending Scroll while Azula is almost the same size. Yeah she's the tall kind of sexy.

Tamahagane or Jewel Steel is the fine quality steel used in Japanese swords. It's made from magnetic black sand, the kind they use in high school to demonstrate magnetic fields. You know when they put a magnet under a piece of paper and throw this black sand on it and it forms shapes? Ok the Kyoshi warriors had katanas (and Spartan shields for some reason) not tachis they're longer and more curved but I'm still saying the Fire Nation invented them for simplicity's sake. And I know about the bit with Yojimbo Momo and Samurai Appa so don't bother bringing that up unless you really want to :p.

Technically steel folding was invented by the Chinese before it moved to Japan. The Japanese are better known for it because they always use it to make katanas and no folding it a hundred times actually makes it worse because you burn the carbon out of the alloy making it weaker. Despite that however mythical legends are associated with swords folded a hundred times plus. Same with starmetal, technically metallic meteorites could make good sword metal but meteoric metal is actually weaker than modern steels which the Fire Nation probably uses if they have battleships. Also I should point out that the Japanese only use folding because they have poor quality and low quantities of iron unlike the Chinese who can afford to cast large amounts of weapons.


	9. Transitor Circuit

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Chapter 08: Transistor Circuit.

_"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do." – Voltaire. _

Leaving Ba Sing Se the again airborne foursome of unlikely companions headed south-west in the direction of the Si Wong Desert with Nyla once again being hoisted around on leather cables. They flew at a leisurely pace of course even though the desert was hot and the sky was so clear it made Azula and Jet nauseous.

"So where are we going exactly?" June shouted from her saddle on Nyla.

"There's a giant rock in this desert that is the nexus of its spiritual energy. My best bet for crossing over lies there," Azula explained.

"I've heard of that place. Sandbenders say that the spirits dropped that rock there from the sky when people stop listening to them," Jet added.

"Sounds like an angry girlfriend," June joked causing the girls to laugh.

"Yeah well I've never met a spirit before," Jet pointed out.

"You think we'll meet one there Azula?" asked Ty Lee excitedly.

"Possibly," Azula replied apprehensively.

She knew that spirits possessed great power if reports of the failed Siege of the North were any indication. And for that reason she had little interest in picking a fight with one if at all possible. People and animals you could kill but how exactly does one kill a spirit?

Before heading out into the far desert the group stopped by a small village on the south banks of the Serpent River to stock up on water and make final preparations to go into the desert.

"Remember deserts are hot during the day but freezing during the night. Bring things to keep you warm as well as white desert clothes. Remember sunburn and biting sands are worse than scorching heat, make sure you cover up and wear goggles. And stock up on lots of water. I mean it," Azula instructed with all the skills of a seasoned ranger.

"I know, I know. I've done this before," June complained in annoyance.

"Well I haven't! Deserts aren't my thing you know," Jet shot her a frustrated look as he fussed over which gear was the best and lightest to bring while lamenting over the thought of having to carry his own stuff if things went south.

"Hahah. But we are going south!" Azula joked.

Only silence responded to her and June just coughed. The fact that Azula had just read Jet's mind completely flew by them which Azula was silently grateful for and made a mental note to subject herself to three days of penitent fasting for letting that slip.

"Oh I get it. Great joke Azula," Ty Lee finally giggled much to Azula's disappointment.

"So what does or did this library look like?" June wondered.

"Like this."

Azula took out a large scroll depicting a pencil illustration of a magnificent building of an architectural design not seen anywhere in the Four Nations.

"Wan Shi Tong brought this library to the real world to collect all of the knowledge of the world thousands of years ago and share it with mankind. It is said that it became the center of an ancient Earth civilization called the Raksha Empire which based its cultural architecture upon it.," lectured the master lightningbender.

"What happened to them?" asked Jet out of curiosity.

"The trouble with the earthbenders is their diversity, unlike the other nations there are no specific first earthbenders. Rather there were three regions all dominated by three separate cultures who could all accurately claim that they were the first earthbenders who learned from the badgermoles. In the south it was a pair of lovers named Oma and Shu the former of which was the founder of the southern earthbending style and the city of Omashu. In the north stonebenders built an underground city of crystal the ruins of which are now the Crystal Catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se beneath the Earth King's Palace. But in the desert it was the Raksha Empire and they became the sandbenders until the other empires wiped them out. Well most of them there are still sandbenders running around these days. "

"You seem to know a lot," June complimented sarcastically.

"Well I am a genius," she tilted her head disdainfully. "At any rate the sandbenders my men interrogated told me that the library was dragged under the sand which means Wan Shi Tong took it back to the Spirit World leaving me no choice but to cross over."

"And how do you plan on doing that Azula?" Ty Lee asked and jumped onto her chair to balance on it with just a finger and a single chair leg.

"By killing myself," she said with a confident smirk and Ty Lee went crashing to the floor face first, June dropped a heavy sack of gold on her foot and bounced around until she fell out a window and Jet walked into a door leading to the bathroom and went sprawling to the floor.

* * *

"Finding the Si Wong Rock will be easy. It's magnetic so we metalbenders will be able to feel its pull," Azula explained.

Indeed Jet could feel the gentle tug of something almost like the wind but far less…windy for lack of a better. It felt like every cubic inch of his body was being pulled not just a part of it like if someone grabbed him by the arm or leg. It was more akin to gravity but more external. It was the strangest sensation he ever felt.

The trip there had relegated itself to deafening silence following hours of intense arguments about Azula's apparently suicidal decision. To sum things up in a few sentences:

"You can't kill yourself Azula! You have so much to live for!" Ty Lee protested while waving her arms about frantically.

"I'm not killing myself. I'm just going to stop my heart with my lightningbending," she replied with ice cold calm.

Jet and Ty Lee's jaws dropped and hit the floor. June however only expressed moderate confusion but was seasoned enough to stop and access her employer's statement from a metaphorical distance. Surely there was something more to this.

"That is killing yourself!" June pointed out.

"In my case it isn't. It's like holding my breath."

"And how long can you hold your breath exactly?" Jet asked incredulously.

"In that state about 30 minutes give or take five."

"You'll be dead for 30 minutes!?" Ty Lee gasped in horror.

"Not dead. Just in a coma."

"That doesn't sound much better," June added sardonically.

"I'll be fine; it's not like its permanent. I'll just jump into the spirit world look around and ask for directions and then jump back. If need be Jet here can shoot lightning at me and wake me. Oh and Jet, do be rough. I like it rough."

And so their journey into the scorching desert was awkward to say the very least. Eventually though they got there after nearly a day's journey and landed on top of the giant rocky mesa. Behind them on the precipice was a series of caves that reeked of a strangely rotten and waxy odor.

"Ugh! What's that smell?" Ty Lee scrunched up her face and squeezed her nose shut.

"Careful this is a buzzard-wasp nest," June explained as she took in the view of the sunset alongside Azula.

The view was positively romantic and Ty Lee found herself shuffling up next to the former princess to soak in the last of the day's worth of sunlight. Inazuma and Nyla also sat side by side almost romantically themselves watching dusk approach. Only Jet the only human male who had been designated by the girls as Team Azula's (Ty Lee's name suggestion) stand in for Sokka as the butt hogmonkey was looking in the opposite direction.

"Oh…June?" he began calmly.

"Yes?"

"Does a buzzard-wasp look like a funny bird thing with an insect like body and a nasty stinger for a tail?"

June's shoulders slumped in response to his question and she instinctively took out her whip.

"There's a whole swarm of them isn't there?" her tone of voice was that of a statement not a question.

"Yeah," Jet sighed and unsheathed his katana.

The entire group turned around to indeed see a swarm so large it nearly filled their entire field of view with nothing but a bubbling mass of black shapes. Yet none of them were even the least bit worried. Jet charged his weapons with lightning, Inazuma and Nyla reared up readying lightning and poison tongue respectively. Azula as well took a stance and drawing out electricity in brilliant arcs that danced around her arms, everyone prepared to fight except Ty Lee who didn't assume any aggressive stances at all. Instead she ran in front of them with her arms spread wide open barring them from attacking.

"Wait! We don't need to hurt them!" she protested.

"I need this rock Ty Lee. It might be my only chance to get into the Library and I will not let a bunch of insects stop me," Azula firmly replied.

"Can't you just scare them away? Throw some lightning bolts in the air! Then they'll fly away!" Ty Lee strongly suggested.

Seeing the logic in her words and not wanting to hurt her friend's feelings Azula then Jet started throwing bolts of shocking energy in all directions deliberately missing the creatures. Yet the light, heat and thunder did not deter them and many of them dove from the sky forcing Jet to hack them apart with electrically amplified katana while Azula and Inazuma blasted them to bits before they even got close.

"This place is their nest Ty Lee. Would you abandon your home and family if attacked?" Azula smartly pointed out.

"No…I wouldn't," Ty Lee sadly admitted. "But you're so powerful. Can't you make them go away without hurting them!?" Ty Lee begged Azula.

Azula thought about it for a moment, and then a technique resolved into her conscious mind that might work making her smile.

"Everyone stand back. Shut your eyes and cover your ears. This will get interesting," she instructed and stepped in front of them all.

Her friends did as she instructed, even Inazuma and Nyla buried their heads in the rock and covered their ears with their paws. Azula took one last look at her companions to see that they were protected then turned to face the oncoming swarm. Then she planted her feet parallel and slightly apart and drew her hands to her stomach. Then she breathed in deep, shot her palms forward fingers facing each other and unleashed a scream, a scream so loud that a shockwave of thunder and blue light erupted from her mouth blinding and blasting the buzzard-wasps right from the sky.

The buzzard-wasps stunned and disoriented fell from the sky like black rain and knocked themselves out cold as they hit rock or sand. None died though many were hurt but at least her thunder roar had worked.

"Ow my ears!" Jet moaned.

"What?!" Ty Lee yelled and cupped her hands to her ears in the hopes of amplifying the sound.

Then the cliff side Jet, June and Ty Lee were standing on explosive slid off the rock like some invisible giant blade had cut it. Dust and people went flying but aside from the initial yelp of surprise none of them panicked.

"Retrieve!" June yelled and cracked her whip and like clockwork Nyla jumped down and June grabbed onto his saddle.

In the same move Nyla then jumped from the falling rock and hit the side of the mesa before sliding down onto the hot desert sand. Ty Lee did the same and acrobatically leaped onto the rock face and slide down beside June. And of course so did Jet and he sunk his powerful swords into the giant rock slowing his descent, suddenly wishing he had taken more effort into learning lightning jets to slow his fall so as to avoid blunting his swords.

Grinding her teeth in anger Azula ran to edge where Inazuma had already perched herself on to look down. Fast approaching on wooden sand skimmers were at least two dozen sandbenders, poachers most likely and more than likely after Nyla and Inazuma. The latter of which made an attempt to jump down and engage in the combat.

"Wait. Let them fight alone," Azula stopped her mount with an outstretched hand blocking her path.

"What?" the Tigerhawk barked in protest.

"I want you to observe June's fighting style and Jet needs some real combat with his lightningbending. Don't worry we'll intervene if necessary. Besides I have her to worry about," Azula jerked her thumb over her shoulder.

Inazuma looked over hers and saw that behind them emerging from the largest of tunnels was the massive form of a queen buzzard-wasp bigger even than a sky bison and three times as long. It's head was bird-like but topped with massive antennae while its abdomen was a long worm like egg laying sac.

"I'm sure that will suffice as an excellent excuse not to help our companions," Azula quipped then back flipped into a series of flying jab kicks that shot forth bolts of lightning.

The bolts struck with explosive force knocking the creature's head back and causing it to roar loudly in pain. Oozy black blood wept from smoldering wounds and it charged for the princess intent on hacking her apart with its massive beak. Azula somersaulted over and landed on its head with perfect balance. She draw back a fist and drove it into the queen's head which exploded with a thundering shockwave that sent its face crashing through the rock.

Even disoriented the queen jerked its head up sending the princess flying into the air before gravity brought her back down right into the snapping beak of the queen. It tried to eat her whole but Azula wouldn't let it close and held its beak open with pure electrically enhanced strength.

"I am no one's dinner!" she snapped and electrocuted the queen and jumped out as its beak snapped shut.

All the while Inazuma did as she was instructed and watched June, Jet and Ty Lee fight down below fully confident that Azula could deal with the mammoth insect-avian on her own. Actually Azula was toying with the bird-insect for the fun of it.

She landed on a single foot and spun into a kick delivering a bolt of lightning that shot into an eye causing it to bubble then burst open spraying boiling hot jelly. It howled in pain and thrashed about trying to crush the princess with its body but she simply grabbed an antenna and dove into one of the smaller caves dragging the giant animal with her using raw superhuman strength.

Its skull when crashing through solid rock nearly causing a cave-in but Azula held it firm and tried to electrocute it again into submission but it was defiant and took to the air dragging the princess with it. Azula decided to hold on tight as they flew away from the mesa on membranous insect wings until finally she decided to end things. She tugged hard against the queen's antenna and jumped onto its head and delivered a powerful karate chop that arced a bolt of lightning from cloudless heavens into its brain knocking it straight from the sky where it crashed like a meteor.

Azula jumped off at the last moment and slowed her descent gently with thrusts of lightning jets allowing her to land in a graceful forward roll.

"Count yourself lucky there isn't a dust storm out or you'd be a pile of smoldering goo!" Azula insulted with sadistically playful banter.

The queen buzzard-wasp was down but still it fought stubbornly to drag itself up from the sand and resume attacking the lightning princess. Azula had little respect for persistence; it showed stupidity when one couldn't come up with an easier solution or just run in the face of insurmountable adversity. She brought her fists together at chest level then shot them downwards causing whips of lightning to form around her feet.

Grabbing the lighting whips she began striking the queen buzzard-wasp across the face until finally it slumped over in defeat. Too terrified to do anything but whimper.

"Good now we understand each other," she snapped her lightning whip again causing a crack of thunder that made the queen flinched.

Smiling at her handiwork she jumped onto its head but the creature didn't move allowing its new mistress to ride her. Grabbing one of the antennae for support she cracked her remaining whip.

"Back to the nest!" Azula barked and somehow the creature obeyed and took to the sky.

* * *

Her companions on the ground looked up in time to see Azula clinging to the giant serpentine form of the queen buzzard-wasp locked in intense combat with her fists ablaze with crackling blue lightning. The queen raced from her hive with Inazuma keeping pace ready to assist her mistress if necessary. Leaving Ty Lee, Jet, June and Nyla to fend for themselves.

"Get the shirshu!" one of the sandbenders shouted to his men.

"Oh don't you dare!" June threatened in a low and menacing tone.

The sandbenders jumped off their still moving sand skimmers and sent shockwaves of scorching sand at the trio who easily dodged out of the way. Ty Lee was the first into the fray; she jumped high over everyone easily avoiding all the blasts of concentrated sand and landed in the midst of their numbers.

In near panic they shot more crawling blasts of sand with thrusts of their fists but she cart wheeled out of the way causing them to hit their other companions before she took the rest down with lightning fast strikes to their backs and chests.

June twirled out of the way of sand explosions as the sandbenders created them with uppercuts and powerful foot stomps. With a crack of her whip she commanded her shirshu to barrel right into them knocking them all aside with lashings of its barbed poisonous tongue that threw them to ground limp and paralyzed as he charged for their skimmers and tore them apart savagely like they were made of cloth not wood with his claws and teeth.

The sandbenders grouped together and combined their fist strikes into a massive wave of sand that knocked down Nyla and half buried him. June snarled and ran straight at the benders and jumped into a flying kick and knocked out the teeth of her first target and sent his skull cracking into the face of man behind him. One of them tried to punch her when she landed on her feet but she grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder and into the throng of people before crushing them in a tangle of arms and legs.

Blasts of sand raced to Jet who sliced them apart with charged blasts of thunder sharpened to keen edges of sound through his katana. Chewing his piece of hay he grinned cockily and spun like a whirlwind slicing the air with his swords and sending deadly curved arcs of lightning into their bodies knocking them all to the ground with deadly accuracy as twitching heaps.

His lightning wasn't nearly as powerful as Azula's but against these weaklings it made no difference.

The sand erupted beneath his feet but he was in the air the moment before it happened. Jet sailed high and brought his swords down in an X-slash that loosed four separate bolts of lightning that raced into the faces of four lightningbenders shocking them into unconsciousness.

Between the three of them battle was over in less than thirty seconds leaving nothing more than a field of limp or unconsciousness bodies and several wrecked sand skimmers. Jet helped June dig Nyla out with light blasts of thunder while Ty Lee checked all of the sandbenders to see if they were alright. When she was satisfied she went off to search the skies for Azula and was rewarded with the sight of Azula riding on the queen buzzard-wasp no less pulling on its antennae for balance while cracking a lightning whip to keep it in check.

Finally she made it land and shocked the queen into sleep none to gently.

"Hey!!" Ty Lee scolded.

"Sorry but I still need to use this rock remember," Azula pointed out.

"Do you really need it?" Ty Lee questioned her friend now unsure if this whole trip was worth hurting these animals over.

"Can't you feel it Ty Lee? This place resonates with strong spiritual energy. As a metalbender Jet and I can feel it like a beacon."

Ty Lee had to admit that as a person with strong spiritual sensitivity this place did indeed seem magical in a way.

"Come with me to the top. Leave the sandbenders to wake up on their own. I'll need you five to guard me while I'm out."

Her group followed her obediently up the long march to the plateau where Azula almost immediately sat down cross-legged facing the sunset.

"The twilight of dusk or dawn is believed to for a brief moment bridge the natural world and the spirit world; the second the sun goes to rest and the moon takes his place. I'm in your care now so don't fail me," she warned her companions who merely nodded still apprehensive over Azula's next course of actions.

"Please don't do this Azula! I'm scared," Ty Lee practically wept by what could be her friend committing suicide.

Sighing to herself Azula jumped to her feet and went up to kiss her acrobatic lover.

"Have faith in me," the princess wished as she rubbed away a tear from her lover's eye ever so lovingly.

"Hey what about us?" June playfully protested.

"Do you really want a kiss?" Azula playfully replied.

"Nah just messing with Jet."

"Hey!" Jet screamed.

"You know being on the bottom is not so bad Juju," Azula teased and went to the edge of the mesa to sit and catch the sunset leaving Jet there to stand dumbfounded.

"She's really got your whipped you know that," teased June.

"Shut up!"

Regardless he still took out his swords and guarded his lover next to June and Ty Lee as Azula meditated.

To enter a state of pseudo-death was actually a lot simpler than Azula had thought. The delays had left her with little time to prepare herself before sunset but like committing suicide focusing her lightning to stop her heart was easy. Restraining it enough not to kill her completely was harder but hardly impossible for the princess of lightning.

Once her body had stopped functioning she felt a sense of vertigo then weightlessness like she was floating in water. But where water merely suspended her like solid ground did still leaving the weight of her guts to press against her insides this was absolute and whole. Like she was not being supported but that she instead had no substance. It was hard to explain.

Needless to say the feeling was as exhilarating as it was frightening for it took a lot of willpower to keep herself from slipping into tempting sleep and just die. She did not have the comfort or support of a spirit like Roku to guide her either making things more difficult. Well for a normal person anyway Azula only felt satisfaction and immediately she took action and moved forward. As expected her spirit moved but her body stayed where it was. Azula had to admit that there was something delightfully morbid about the experience of seeing one's own lifeless body but enough musing she thought and moved on.

To her annoyance she found that she couldn't lightningbend in the spirit world, consequently she could not fly via lightning jets or run as fast as a thunderbolt by infusing her muscles with electricity.

"Well that's irritating!" she cursed and jogged on down not wanting to risk taking a leap of faith without lightning to enhance her muscles and cushion her fall. Then she wondered if she could even injure herself in the spirit world but didn't bother testing it.

To find what she needed proved much more difficulty, taking the presumed location of the buried library from the grey matter of the sandbenders was about as effective as one could expect when traversing a featureless desert by night. So she just headed in the general direction she supposed the library had been using the magnetic lode and the stars to guide her. It kept her going; that and the fact that having no flesh in the spirit world meant no fatigue it seemed.

Hours of constant jogging passed by but still she was getting nowhere it seemed. Were this Zuko she correctly deduced he would have at that moment stopped to throw a long and loud tantrum. Azula instead met everything calmly and ran but continued to wonder:

"There has to be a faster way to do this."

Then she noticed something out of the corner of eye. She took a closer look and discovered that it was an animal she had never seen before. It looked like a fox spirit but those were supposed to be myths.

"A knowledge seeker!" she realized remembering the old tales she had read about the spirit library.

Seeing no better option she chased after it until finally it reached a small oasis. It approached the small pool of water there and took a small drink then jumped straight in. Azula broke into a sprint fearing she might lose the spirit but already figuring that the pool was a portal somehow. Spirits did tend to only be able to manifest within certain areas so she'd learned so it stood to reason that physical doors existed between both worlds.

When she reached the pool she found it to be flat, still and silvery from the light of the moon. It seemed infinitely deep because of the moonlight, gingerly she reached down and put her hand in yet no matter how far she reached she could not find a bottom. Even when she removed her arm she found that it wasn't wet at all.

"A shortcut! Excellent!" she grinned from ear to ear and dove straight in.

Azula found herself tumbling through a tunnel of golden sand and silver water, she had no sense of time here nor a sense of up or down. Only forward and forward she went until she tumbled straight through a solid marble wall and into a huge antechamber lit by eerie green lights.

The architecture featured white marble columns and murals the likes of which she had only seen once elsewhere and that was in the ruined chamber of the Lightning Bureaucrats. Rows of books were stacked higher and farther than Azula could see and for a moment Azula wondered if this place had any sense of finite space or if it stretched on for eternity. Without much hesitation Azula ventured in eager to examine the place and find the spirit she sought.

Before long she came to a crossroad looking up to a huge hollow tower and down many levels descending into darkness. And then she heard footsteps but not human ones these were too loud and too alien to be human or animal. Deciding that this might be the spirit she was looking for she waited patiently and was soon rewarded with her goal.

Wan Shi Tong the great spirit of knowledge emerged from the shadows, a giant owl standing more than twenty feet high and moving more like a giant man in a great black cloak approached her with a flinty gaze as deep and black as the night. He stopped to observe Azula for a moment then a dark expression seem to cross his face as though he were shaking his head in disgust.

"I see human greed knows no limits. I take my library back and still humans come," it spoke with a deep voice that seemed to resonate with a thousand voices.

"Wan Shi Tong I presume. I am Azula of Lightning," she politely greeted and bowed in respect.

"Of lightning?" he jeered disbelievingly. "You should leave human."

"And if I don't want to?"

"Observe," the spirit waved a wing to its left and Azula followed the gesture and saw a shriveled corpse of a man wearing white desert gear that was little more tatters and rags now.

"This one would not leave when the Avatar brought him here. His greed for knowledge held him fast and he died of thirst."

"He came to the spirit world physically then? Huh, it's too bad I couldn't do the same. Then I could prove that I'm a lightningbender."

"How do you know what a lightningbender is?" the owl pressed its face up close to girl's glowing blue face but she didn't even flinch and the spirit found himself impressed.

"Because I am one. The first lightningbender in an age," she revealed proudly.

"Oh really. Interesting. I am an all knowing spirit yet I find myself at a lost with you," Wan Shi Tong had to admit that he found this human curiously honest.

The friends of the Avatar were clearly devious individuals while the firebender Zhao merely sneaked in under his notice but this one seemed courteous and straight-forward which he found strange and unbecoming of humans who were eternal covetous and perpetually guilty. Did this human really have no shame to hide? It was unnerving even for a spirit to be in the presence of this sociopath.

"Perhaps there may be a way I can prove to you my identity," she offered him her hand. "Merge you spirit with mine. I know you can and I will show you what I am."

Wan Shi Tong looked to the princess apprehensively. Never before had a human made such a gesture to him and few living knew that spirits could commune that way. Still he decided that there was nothing this human phantasm could do to harm him so he placed the tip of a wing on her open palm and her memories flooded into him filling him with such shocking revelation that the giant bird stumbled back and nearly fell over.

"A lightningbender!? That's impossible! You were all wiped out by the Bison Lords!!" the spirit gasped in shock.

"I am a new lightningbender. A descendant of Fire Lord Sozin who wiped out the Air Nomads and taught by Inazuma a Tigerhawk."

"Inazuma! Her?" he blurted out.

"Yes. I see you know her."

"This is unprecedented. The Lightning Bureaucrats were true altruistic warrior-scholars. When I first came to the human world the Raksha Empire built their capital city around my library yet it was the lightningbenders alone who sought to share knowledge not covet it," the spirit paused for moment as though to catch his breath. "Tell me young lightningbender what do you seek?"

"Make no mistake spirit. I am as evil and as human as they come. I have selfish desires and ambitions but I seek not to gain an edge against my foes to destroy them, only defend against them if need be. All I wish of your knowledge is the rebirth the old lightning nation and restoration of all its ancient technologies so that mankind will benefit. Yes I seek fame and fortune for it and yes there are those whom I wish to spite by it but know this. Whether by intention or by incident I will benefit and improve the lives of many thousands if not millions of people. Isn't that enough? For are their lives not unique and ephemeral and worth improving for however brief an eon."

"I…I suppose."

"Humans are a diverse group of people Wan, we cannot satisfy them all for some are simple yet many are greedy but we can if we only try help those who truly need it. And I believe that good enough is more than enough. So what do you say. Will you help me?"

"…You seek old books and tombs and scrolls of the old Lightning Bureaucrats, you believe I have some?"

"Well? Do you?"

"Of course," Wan seem taken aback as though the notion that he lacked a copy of a text was insulting. "My knowledge seekers were gifted many times with books from Tienjing and the ancient lightningbenders in respect would give me a copy of every book they ever wrote whenever it was written."

"Excellent. So what is your answer spirit."

The spirit was flabbergasted, experience had gave him reason to hesitate when dealing with humans yet this human. She seemed more than human, only in rare occasions had this ancient being met such individuals with ambition and charisma yet this girl. This princess and would-be monarch of lightning was different. Somehow greater. Rags could not hide her regal bearing, poverty could not tarnish her divine mien. And like that Wan Shi Tong felt the same vigor he felt millenniums ago when he happened upon the desire to help the mortals.

"You have a kind of honesty uncommon in humans. I sense ambition and pride in you but I care not for those that humans shun. Instead I see the spark of a divine intelligence in you that will benefit humanity…Very well. I Wan Shi Tong Spirit who knows 10,000 things as I did with your spiritual ancestors will aide you in the establishment of your Lightning Kingdom."

* * *

Ty Lee jumped about the rock anxiously as she waited for Azula to return, her body's aura had changed strangely, it mellowed out taking on an odd almost electrical glow instead of the stormy pulse that followed the rhythm of her heartbeat as soon as she saw Azula's spirit separate from her body and run off into the distance. Needless to say the acrobat had been freaked out at first.

Now hours had passed not thirty minutes yet they had chosen to remain patient for Azula to return on her own. Jet didn't know what zapping her might really do even though Azula ordered him to in case of emergencies yet according to Ty Lee who checked her friend's aura and body Azula was perfectly fine. Ok she wasn't breathing and her heart thumped every forty five seconds but her skin was still warm and pink and her aura was just as alive. It wasn't absent like it was with dead bodies to which Ty Lee was immensely grateful for.

And that was strangest part, Azula should have been dead yet it was like another life force was keeping her alive well beyond Azula's allotted time.

Morning was fast approaching however and none of them dared contemplate the possibility that their friend had been trapped in the spirit world.

"How much longer is this going to take!" Jet snapped to cover his worry as he paced back and forth.

"Calm down Jet. Azula said to have faith in her," Ty Lee shot back.

"Yeah. Keep it up and you're going to wear this rock out until it crumbles," June joked.

Then the ground started to rumble ominously.

"Oh come on!!" June screamed in disbelief.

Then a great column of sand exploded to the west sending clouds of dust at them in buffeting waves. The humans were almost knocked down trying to protect their leader from the slicing winds before Inazuma and Nyla shielded them in turn with their thick-fur covered bodies.

When the dust finally settled the three looked out to behold the magnificent and resplendent white form of the spirit library amidst the sea of sand risen with the sunrise which cast a wondrous amber glow against it. Nothing but the Palaces of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom capital could match its size and splendor.

"Behold the Spirit Library of Wan Shi Tong. Once the jewel of the Raksha Empire!" Inazuma announced.

"Indeed," Azula replied and picked herself up from the dirt.

"Azula!" Ty Lee squealed and tackled the princess into a fierce hug nearly knocking the taller girl over. "I was so worried! Don't ever do that again!" she cried.

"Well it's nice to know I'm missed," Azula returned the hug.

"Welcome back," June greeted.

"Likewise," Jet stoically added.

"Come, I have a friend I'd like you all to meet."

Azula, Ty Lee and Jet flew down on Inazuma while June kept pace on Nyla, it took them mere minutes to arrive at the building's front golden gates which gently swung open as if moved by the wind. And out of the shadows emerged the imposing figure of Wan Shi Tong causing Azula's companions to back away in terror. All except Ty Lee who looked at him stunned for a few moments then squealed:

"He's so cute!!" and tackled the giant owl swinging her arms around his thick neck in an attempt to hug him, to her credit she didn't slip off and Wan looked puzzled before a look of appreciation seemed to creep into his inhuman features. He even placed a wing against the clinging acrobat as if trying to return the hug.

Jet's jaw hit the floor while everyone else simply arched an eyebrow at the bizarre sight. Inazuma turned to Nyla who just seem to shrug as if to say I'm blind!

"Now this I wasn't expecting," Wan Shi Tong murmured pleasantly.

"Wan meet Ty Lee who is clinging to your neck, June the beautiful one and her pet shirshu Nyla, Jet the scruffy looking one and Inazuma," Azula gestured to her companions with one hand while keeping the other behind her back.

Inazuma bowed in an almost human fashion and for a moment a brief look of recognition crossed the owl's features. To a normal human the expression would've gone unnoticed but to someone like Azula she saw that look as clearly as daylight.

So that's how it is Azula thought and smirked.

The humans had decided to camp in the library for the night yet sadly the huge complex had no facilities for human use; no beds, no baths not even latrines much to their aggravation. At least they wouldn't have to deal with the cold and sand in here at least and so everyone spent the day resting there. The sandbenders had long since fled and so had the buzzard-wasp queen none of them eager to face the lightningbenders and their warrior companions every again. That night everyone slept and slept comfortably except for the Tigerhawk and the Spirit of Knowledge.

Inazuma stood perched atop the library itself and a flapping of great black wings heralded the approach of Wan Shi Tong as he flew down next to her.

"I thought you were dead along with your mate," he began almost immediately.

"I survived. He did not," Inazuma replied soberly.

"You've taken quite an interest in this former firebender. I'm surprised you didn't seek out her grandfather or her uncle. It was their gift as well."

"Neither of them has her power nor her wisdom and vision. They would have floundered and failed where she will succeed."

"I see."

Silence settled on them as they watched meteors fall from the starry sky in little white streaks.

"She is like Rai isn't she?" Wan Shi Tong then asked.

"More than you know Wan. More than you know."

"You have his essence then don't you?"

"The Thunder God will return to my side Wan. I will see to it."

Author's Note:To answer a previous point Azula can flirt she just can't flirt like a normal person. Remember with Chan she wanted to do it the nice way for once which she stated before but screws it up spectacularly when she shifts half-way between nice and naughty. Otherwise she would have used psychosexual threats and blackmailing. Needless to say you need a special kind of kinky for Azula.

Raksha I took from Rakshasa which are Indian demons, basically the Raksha Empire is based on the ancient Indian Empire/s and I'm saying Guru Pathik is part of what's left of it which reflects the current extinct state of the once great Indian Empires. Make sense to me the library looks like the Taj Mahal and Guru Pathik is clearly Indian.

Incidentally Indian God Demons are called Asuras. Which some people believe inspired Azula's name.

The Three Earth Empires are based on the Three Kingdoms, a time in ancient China of great war and intrigue. Players of Dynasty Warriors will get the reference. Basically in the Earth Kingdom there seems to be three cultures that I can pick out. Mainland China in the case of Ba Sing Se in the north Korea in the case of Gaoling and Omashu in the south and to some extent India with a bit of Arabia though clearly near extinct.

Interestingly June's style of combat most closely resembles Judo another Japanese martial art. At least as far as I can tell. Oh as for Azula's implied cannibalism you decide in your own minds if she's into it or not. There's actually a good reason behind why she does however.


	10. My Sister's Keeper

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender all characters and locations are official property of Nickelodeon.

The First Lightningbender

電Book 1: Lightning

Interlude 02: My Sister's Keeper

_"They sicken of the calm, those who knew the storm" – Dorothy Parker_

A few weeks earlier on Ash Island.

If there was anything Fire Lord Zuko could be accused of being patient was not one of them, his time with the Avatar and his friends along with his girlfriend Mai had helped to curb some of his temper and aggression but he still had a shameful tendency to lash out on occasion like when he attacked Aang on Ember Island for being so laid back despite the dangers of the impending comet. He could have just asked after all but no he had to leave out that piece of vitally important information until the very last minute. It was one of the many reasons why he made an unpopular Fire Lord in the long run and why things (politically anyway) had been going rather poorly around the world.

At first the peasants loved him for ending the war that caused so much strife; they loved him for bringing back their sons and daughters though that was nothing new. He and Azula were greatly praised for that when Azula conquered Ba Sing Se allowing thousands of troops to return home after she singlehandedly ended the Earth Nation campaign. His second betrayal to Ozai however had branded him a traitor, revoked his birthright utterly and made it certain that the public hated him. Sure Azula had accepted his Agni Kai but technicality he lost that one and he had no real right to throne anyway; Ozai had made sure of that.

In an Agni Kai there were few rules save the following: An Agni Kai was a duel to settle disputes of honor, authority and respect. They could be called against anyone from the youngest of peasants to the oldest of Fire Lords. Declining one or surrendering was a mark of shame yet specific rules were scant. Obviously the duel was between the two selected combatants and there could be no physical interferences from other combatants but that was where the rules ended. Iroh had demonstrated during Zuko's Agni Kai against Zhao that coaching from the sidelines and providing useful tactical information from a third party perspective were completely legal. Granted Iroh's advice had been slim but undoubtedly useful but if Iroh had not reminded Zuko to maintain his basics and attack Zhao's root the weak spot in his style Zuko knew he would have lost against that master.

As such what some might consider dirty tricks were also completely reasonable if not just feints, all martial arts are of course based on deception. Before Sozin Agni Kais were rarely duels to the death then after him any act of mercy was deemed a sign of weakness. But they always had to be decisive. There were no firebending techniques off-limits, no areas of the body off-limits. Victory was achieved by incapacitating one's opponent or placing oneself in such a position that the coup de grace could be delivered without debate, what happened next was up to the victory. Spectators as such were simply background, attending Agni Kais at their own risks where deadly fireballs and lightning were common hazards. As such Azula's tactic of shooting at Katara causing Zuko to jump in front of it distracted was no different from any feint. And Zuko was no stranger to sneak-attacks, he spin sweep-kicked Zhao in his Agni Kai against him from a prone position. In essence Azula's tactics were not much different.

That Zuko played right into it simply proved what Zuko had known his entire. He was no match for her not matter what her state.

Yet the nobles cut their loses and accepted his succession. As a result his enthronement however loved at first was really just a well decorated coup won for him by a waterbending girl genius, a 13 year old godlike powerhouse plus his masterbender friends and an organization of mighty old masters two of whom were comet enhanced beating up on a paltry force of novices and non-benders stretched to the breaking point to watch over a continent they were not native to. Really Zuko had gotten really lucky yet he was decidedly, blissfully and partially deliberately ignorant of that fact.

In the ensuing weeks after his coronation he did all he could to mend the wounds inflicted in the other Nations but things were difficult, very difficult. He had all but emptied the nation's coffers to pay for damages the war caused, their economy bolstered by the war had crashed, food and all manner of supplies were being donated by the ship load to the East and Fire Nation peasants were starving because of it. Airships, Fire Navy ships, tanks, weapons, scientists and war ministers were being given over as prisoners to work laboriously for the Earth Kingdom as part of the Fire Nation's disarmament treaty which in turn got used by decadent lords to start their own little rebellions before those were put down if at all.

Some of the machines got dismantled and some of officers and ministers got acquitted but most if not all of them simple went mercenary and hired themselves out to the Earth Kingdom.

Then there was all the racial tensions in the colonies as Earth citizens attacked Fire Colonists while Fire Colonists born in the Earth Continent within the last century fought for what was technically also their homes.

At first Aang had tried to negotiate and even when things got heated demand that the people forgive and forget but people were not that strong and the Avatar had no right to force that on them. And even before he could demand any further sporadic rebellions and wide acts of atrocity broke out. Truly times had been interesting for the young Avatar causing him to swear that he'd have gone bald if he weren't already bald.

For that the once darling Fire Lord and his charming friends were quickly making a lot of enemies on top of all their old ones. Unemployment and poverty were at an all time high, it seemed as though they had traded one set of problems for another. The nobles hated them too, not just the Fire Nation nobles but also Earth nobles who demanded more than they deserved and who lost much power without a common enemy to keep their people in check. During a war corrupt nobles could afford to just about anything in the name of protecting their citizens but of course that all changed when Aang toppled the Fire Nation.

Then there were the demands for officers and Fire soldiers to be executed as well as Earth soldiers who took advantage of the war to perform their own decadent acts. Aang a vehement pacifist thus had to strip hundreds of benders not just firebenders but corrupt earthbenders as well of their bending. Prisons had been filled to the breaking point, new ones had to be built and still things would not just calm down.

In retrospect their victory against the Phoenix King had been easy and given to them on a silver platter. The act of healing the world was proving to be far more difficult. Politics it seemed was not the strong suit of the children who won the war. It seemed about the only place not suffering was the Water Tribes and that was only due to its small size and the control Chief Arnook was able to exert over his people.

Zuko literally had no time to look for his mother not that he even knew where to start, Ozai wasn't budging and he literally did not have the resources to mount an investigation. His sessions with Azula also became far more infrequent; his latest visit succeeded one that took place weeks ago. Not that he was really having much success with her; the girl was like a mountain. Utterly impenetrable.

"What's the matter Zuko suddenly feeling unloved?" asked the sarcastic woman who Zuko assumed was his sister.

"Not at all. I have everything I ever wanted. Friends, family, my throne. I'm happy Azula, you should try the same," Zuko started as calmly as he could even though he really felt like he needed to take his frustration out on something or someone.

He knew that visiting his sister only infuriated him more, yet he still felt compelled to try and help her from some misbegotten sense of pride and honor.

"Oh please. We both know that's not true."

"What are you saying?!"

"You have friends who love you for now, an Uncle who claims to love you but really doesn't. You want mother's love, you need that unconditional and unwavering love, you want it more than anything. Even more than the love of your friends!"

"That's not true. My friends are important to me!"

"Even more than mother?"

"Her love is important too! I know you love her too and I know mother loves you as well. So when I find her we can go and see her together."

Unexpectedly the girl Zuko assumed was his sister, the girl whom had been mindbent into thinking like Azula, into responding like Azula with much of her memories burst into a fit of cacophonous laughter that disturbed all who heard it. Finally Zuko could take it no more and grabbed the bars of her cell and yelled at her.

"What's so funny!?" the Fire Lord demanded to know.

"Mother never really loved you Zuzu! If she had do you think she would have left you with father when you both knew what kind of a monster you all thought he was? Face it, she left because she didn't to want to have to deal with a pathetic and whiny son like you anymore!"

Then he lost it and blasted the doors of their hinges with a firebomb and stormed on in. Roughly he grabbed the girl by the collar of her robes and dragged her limply to her feet.

"Take it back! Take it…Oh no!!" and then he dropped the girl and gaped and stared in pure shock for the woman was not his sister.

"Talk about sibling bonds. Weeks you've conversed and counseled me yet it took weeks for you to realize that I'm not your sister. How pathetic!" the girl spat.

"W-Who are you!? Where's my sister!!?"

"Azula wanted to give you this message…Zuzu you're a failure, you will always be a failure! I've won! I always win!" she hissed.

And then the girl's eyes glazed over and she went limp. For a second Zuko thought that she had died then she suddenly sprung to life babbling and screaming, demanding to know where she was and what had happened before she recognized the Fire Lord and fell to her knees in supplication. It was like she was suffering from sudden amnesia.

The first thing Zuko did was check on his father. After seeing that the former Fire Lord was still safely in his cell languishing Zuko moved on to contacting the Avatar.

Sending a message to Aang took days even by the fastest messenger hawk courier, the young Avatar was in the Earth Kingdom after all trying to settle disputes and put down rebellions in the name of Earth King Kuei. The king while proving to be fairly knowledgeable after his long journey around his kingdom proved to be a very weak-minded and overly kind-hearted ruler who preferred to fawn over his brown bear more than rule over his kingdom. It was the reason Long Feng took over so easily after all. Needless to say he was not all that popular with the nobility nor was he a very inspirational leader.

Even when the message reached the monk it took days more for him to travel on Appa all the way back to the Fire Nation.

"Aang!" Zuko shouted as the Avatar landed in the royal courtyard.

"Hi Zuko how've you been?" Aang began pleasantly.

"We have no time for pleasantries Azula's escaped and we need to find her before something bad happens!!" the Fire Lord was on the verge of his hysterics and even Mai couldn't restrain him.

"Sorry Aang, Zuko tends to get all hysterical at the slightest of problems," Mai apologized on behalf of her boyfriend.

Sometimes people wondered who the real 'woman' in their relationship was.

"I'm not being hysterical!!" Zuko yelled **hysterically** causing both Aang and Mai to giggle. "We need to find Azula!!"

"Calm down Zuko, nothing came up while I was in the Earth Kingdom. Are you sure Azula broke out? Maybe someone else got her out?"

"Does it matter?! All I know is that she wasn't in her cell, someone was there…brainwashed or something into acting like Azula. And now who knows where she's at or what she's doing!?"

"Ok do you have any idea where she could have gone?" Aang asked with all the calm that befitted a monk.

"I just said I didn't know!!" Zuko's eyes were positively bloodshot with rage while his skin had turned a nice pink color.

"How about you Mai?" Aang turned to his friend's girl who had long gotten used to Zuko's tantrums.

"Same as him," she jerked at a thumb at her boyfriend.

"Ok fine. Assuming Azula broke herself out and somehow brainwashed that nurse like the Dai Li do then where would she go?"

"She'd probably go out into the Earth Kingdom and establish her own new kingdom. No way Azula would settle for being anything less than a queen," Mai replied.

"What about somewhere in the Fire Nation?" asked Aang.

"We already looked, unless she's hiding in some noble's castle then she's not in the Fire Nation anymore," Zuko explained.

"Well I heard nothing in the Earth Kingdom but it's a big continent. She could be anywhere."

"ARRRGGHHH!!" Zuko was on the verge of tearing his hair out until he was as bald as he was for the last three years.

"I think I know a couple of ladies who might be able to help us get into Azula's head," Mai then announced with a smirk.

"Who?" both the Fire Lord and the Avatar asked at once.

A few days later they were on Ember Island visiting Li and Lo who decided that retirement was in order, at least until Azula got better if ever. The two old crones looked to the princess like the granddaughter they never had and her departure from the land of coherence weighed on them with silent guilt for they often felt as though they had somehow failed the princess.

Zuko had asked them to continue their roles as advisers in his court but both had politely declined. Still it didn't stop them from greeting their Fire Lord to their little beach side hut.

"Why hello Fire Lord Zuko, Avatar Aang, Lady Mai," Li greeted.

"What can Li and I do for you?" Lo asked.

"Azula's escaped. We're here to ask if you know where we could find her?" Zuko firmly began.

"Yeah, know any places she'd crash?" Mai asked apathetically while trying to ignore the deliriously pink surroundings of the house.

"Hmm come inside," Lo offered.

"And let Lo and I get you some sweets."

"Thanks I'm hungry!" Aang salivated causing Zuko to slap his forehead which in turn caused Mai to giggle.

The trio went inside to have some Fire Nation styled sweets and cakes, they were so good that only Zuko remembered what they had originally went there for.

"Li, Lo. Don't you know anything?" Zuko rudely demanded.

"Zuko. Show some manners," Mai scolded.

"Yeah Zuko, Li and Lo were kind enough to treat us. You should show some respect," Aang added and took a large bite of purely vegetarian cake. Only fruits and no eggs were used.

"…Sorry," Zuko hung in his head in shame.

He swore he'd become a better person yet despite his best efforts he was still as bad-tempered and short-sighted as ever.

"Hatred and envy broke apart the brothers Ozai and Iroh. Iroh fought hard for his ambition while Ozai looked on with avarice. It corrupted him and made him the bitter monster you knew," Li lectured.

"You must not let their obsessions become yours. Forgive your sister and seek her forgiveness. Heal the rift between you so that you may stand united as descendants of Roku and Sozin," Lo added.

"Or let the fate of your forebearers become your own," they both chimed.

"They're right Zuko, you need to think this through calmly. Don't become like your father," Aang kindly added.

"You're right. I can't get obsessed over this. I won't," he sternly proclaimed.

"But that still doesn't help us find Azula," Mai pointed out.

"I'm afraid Lo and I can't help you," Li apologized before being followed up her twin and so on and so forth.

"We instructed Azula in many things but ultimately all her skills, ideas and talents were her own."

"In her state of mind, she could do anything from wander the lands aimlessly."

"To slaughter and conquer selfishly."

"If you wish to find her. You will have to find her yourself," they both recited.

The Fire Lord sighed in defeat thinking to himself:

"Why can't anything be easy!" he screamed out loud before banging his head against the table.

"Fire Lord Zuko! We've just received a messenger hawk saying that Azula's attacking the Boiling Rock Prison!" suddenly shouted Captain Ming the former guard of Iroh when he was a prisoner who after showing how truly kind-hearted and selfless she was got promoted at Iroh's request to Captain of the Royal Guard.

Both boys stared at her as she ran into Li and Lo's hut and handed the message scroll into their hands. Reading its hastily scribbled characters they realized that Ming was not kidding and suddenly they felt very stupid and very lucky.

"Wow, that was random?" Aang shrugged.

"Oh shut up," Zuko pouted in that cute sulky way he always did making Mai want to ravish him on the spot.


	11. Cancellation

Cancellation: Sorry to everyone who's been reading my stories but The First Lightningbender is officially canceled due to my current employment. However I've taken to writing a much simpler script for a webcomic I've recently commissioned called The Inferno King another Azula-centric fanfic. It's now available at infernoking . smackjeeves .com (No spaces, won't let me not space them). Enjoy, sign up and drop a fav please. Updates in about a week.


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